


The Shades Behind Their Masks

by LionRose



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Crime Fighting, Drama & Romance, Eventual Romance, F/M, Pokemon, Pokemon Battles, Romance, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 73,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26679577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LionRose/pseuds/LionRose
Summary: This story serves as an alternative continuation of the manga, starting after the events of chapter 531: The war against Neo Team Plasma is about to begin, and to gain an advantage over Colress and his henchmen, Interpol needs to know their plan. They sent Lack-Two, their youngest superintendent, to search for a girl keeping the secret data about the scientist's device at the Aspertia Trainer School. But will he be able to fulfill this task when said girl is more than wary to not cause any suspicion?
Relationships: Bel | Bianca & Cheren, Bel | Bianca/Cheren, Black/White (Pokemon Adventures), Lack-Two | Blake & Whi-Two | Whitley, Lack-Two | Blake/Whi-Two | Whitley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	1. vs. Cinccino - Game Of Doubt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Leafpuff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leafpuff/gifts).



> This fanfiction is supposed to be the continuation of the 'Black 2 & White 2'-arc of the Pokespe manga. The story starts right after the events of chapter 531. I created this during one of the many hiatuses of the story, the original is finished by now and you can check it out, though I hope my version can be an appealing alternative (and satisfy everyone who was disappointed by the low number of CorruptedShipping moments after this point of the manga).
> 
> I want to provide weekly updates, apart from Christmas time in which I'd like to post a oneshot instead. There will be thirteen chapters and an epilogue according to the current status, they'll increase in length as the story progresses.  
> Please share your praise, criticism and ideas in the review section, I'd always like to know what people like and dislike about my work!
> 
> I don't own the characters, places or Pokemon itself, and I have no intentions to earn money with this story in any way!

For her, it was a living nightmare. She came to Aspertia City in hopes of being able to escape her past. But whenever she thought she could forget it for a moment, he dropped in and forced her back into her cover. She had no idea why he always had to pick her to be the victim of his flirtatious behavior, even when all the other girls would have sold their mothers for a date with him.  
And she hated the fact that she somehow started to like it. Whenever he came close to her, she had to remind herself not to let her guard down. What would happen if they found out...

For him, it was a game. He was on a mission to seek out the Team Plasma agent at the Aspertia Trainer school to gain an advantage in the upcoming war against Neo Team Plasma, and since he held all the strings in his hands, he took his time to play it save like a game of chess.  
And slowly, all his figures reached their position to start the final offensive. But she was only the queen, struggling to protect the real king of his opponent. And taking down this king was his true aim. But the more the figures moved, the more an idea grew in his head. The idea of using his queen against the foe...

After the students returned from the field trip to the PokeStar Studios, Lack-Two went to his private room and looked through the gathered information once again, stopping at a beautiful, self-drawn picture of Whi-Two.

He couldn't say how long he just eyed it before an inquisitive voice startled him. "Is this girl our target?", Looker asked. The boy turned around to face his assistant and nodded satisfied. He finally managed to sneak up on his superior without the latter noticing him.

Then, Lack-Two answered his question, careful not to give the agent too much knowledge about his own opinion. „Yes, I spent enough time with her to be sure she's either a former criminal trying to start a new life or a really bad undercover agent from another region. The only thing missing to bust her is tangible evidence. She's quite good at ensuring I don't get any, but that's just a matter of time", he reported.

"It's a pity time is exactly what we don't have", Looker assessed. "Passersby told they saw a suspicious ship in the harbor of Virbank City. A connection with the encroachments of Neo Team Plasma in this area is probable."

"Well done, Looker", the younger officer commended. "We'll head there at midnight."  
After familiarizing the subordinate with his infiltration plan, he looked at his notepad again. What effect took this girl on him?

Looker noticed this and stopped on the windowsill. "By the way, why did you put so much effort in drawing her?", he asked. He knew he was supposed to leave, but his curiosity got the better of him, as was his occupational habit.

"You're dismissed, subordinate", Lack-Two warned without looking up.

But this time, the older agent wouldn't be taunted by the boy. This time, he felt his superior was not taking protocol as strictly as he had to, and as he had always used to. "Is Mr Perfect having a crush on the target?", he inquired.  
The superintendent growled. He had been trained to ignore jibes like this, but the fact that this accusation came from the untalented yet amusing accomplice, whose only noticeable strength was his loyalty towards Interpol, made him somehow irate. He was a professional, he wouldn't give into such foolish ideas.  
"If you're hoping for some kind of 'Romeo and Juliet'-romance, I need to remind you...", Looker wanted to admonish, but the young man disrupted him.

"Romeo and Juliet died in the end, which is something I don't plan to do", he determined. "Besides, I think you should know that my intention in this case isn't to find a girlfriend. I will take Team Plasma down. You can either keep taunting me for acting with determination or help me so your success rate will be a little less shameful afterwards."

"My success rate is absolutely presentable!", Looker snapped. Immediately after he ended the sentence, he knew he had fallen back into his old role and was no longer in a position to accuse the other of anything.

Lack-Two smiled masterfully again. He won the repartee another time, though his assistant was not much of an opponent. "How long has it been since you checked it?", he demanded.

"I guess I have to leave now, I'll meet you later at the agreed time.", Looker excused himself and jumped out of the window.  
The boy was left alone in his room, but the loneliness suddenly reminded him of the accusation he simply denied. He knew he what he had to do, and he never had problems to get his job done. But why was he forming this abstract plan to make her join his side now? Looker was right, time was of the essence. He needed to make his move soon. And so, the figures moved on...  
In his game of doubt.

* * *

Cheren looked at the courtyard of the school that had been unused for so long. Could this really become his gym? Everyone told him with how much skill he and his Pokemon competed in the League, but he still couldn't remember anything. By now, he figured out that he had been hypnotized and used by some evil villain, most likely a member of Team Plasma. How many other people had been hypnotized like him? How many people were still hypnotized?

An anticipated voice brought his thoughts back to where they started. "I suspected you'd already be here", Lenora shouted from the door to the school. The former gym leader walked towards the teacher. "I still remember how I got introduced in the duties of a gym leader. If it's true what the others told me about you, it won't take me long until you understand it."

"Miss Lenora, I'm pleased you managed to come here so fast", Cheren greeted the guest, not without a hint of surprise that she had travelled from Nacrene City to Aspertia in such a short amount of time.

"No problem", Lenora laughed. "The faster another gym leader gets taught in how to handle the tasks, the faster I can resign and spend more time with the kids. Brycen said that you're holding great potential."

The young teacher was eager to fulfill these expectations in him as well now, after all he wanted them to be right, even when his first instinct was to deny them. "Well, then I don't want to hold you off for too long! How do we start?"

She nodded, happy about his new-found enthusiasm, and started to explain: "First of all, I'll have to test you personally again, since you're going to replace me as the Normal type-gym leader. I brought those Pokemon with me. You'll have to choose one that matches the strength of the Pokemon I'm going to use as exactly as possible", As she finished, she handed him six Pokeballs filled with normal type Pokemon on three different levels. The woman herself called out her Cinccino.

Cheren thought about which Pokemon he should choose for a moment. The Cinccino seemed to be on a moderate level, which left him to choose between a Watchog and a Tranquill to make it a fair fight. He decided for the latter because he had used one before.

"Good choice", Lenora approved. She and her Pokemon walked over to the battle field drawn on the ground. Cheren and the bird followed. "Let's have a one-on-one-battle. The first move is yours."

That was not an offer Cheren would decline. "Tranquill, use Work Up", he ordered, knowing that using the first turn for charging up would give her a chance to attack but deeming it worth the risk.

Lenora decided to use the turn he gave her to attack outright. "Cinccino, show these two your Rock Blast", she called. The chinchilla threw rocks against its opponent with high speed. Only two of them hit it, but thanks to the type advantage and its ability Technician, the attack dealt great damage anyway.

Now, Cheren had to think about his next move. He calculated that another Rock Blast could beat Tranquill under the condition that at least four rocks landed a hit. But the probability of this happening was lower than the alternative, and he couldn't be sure his own attack would be strong enough with just one boost. "Use Work Up another time", he said with certainty, hiding his doubts and fears in his tone.

"Interesting... You're taking a risk to give the challenger a chance to win", she concluded. "I'll take it! Cinccino, fire off another Rock Blast." So her Pokemon repeated the move. Tranquill did its best to avoid getting hit, and in the end, three rocks affected it.

Seeing that his Pokemon was still able to fight, even though just barely, Cheren arranged the next attack before his opponent had a chance to use any other move, knowing their speed stats had to be close. "Now, Tranquill, strike with Quick Attack", he shouted. The bird charged against its foe, and the quick assault, reinforced by Tranquill's earlier moves, prostrated it to the ground. They could tell it had been a critical hit, which made its trainer happy for the ability Super Luck. Due to this force, the normal type couldn't stand up any more and lost conscience.

"Thank you, Cinccino, you did great", Lenora praised her Pokemon a bit overwhelmed as she called it back. "Well, you definitely are a great duelist, Cheren. Now that you've proven to be more than satisfactory in choosing the correct Pokemon and battling with it appropriately, we can move on to..."

She suddenly got interrupted by the loud voice of a boy. "Mr Cheren, are you out here?", Hugh called. Seconds later, the student ran through the great hall to the open doors of the courtyard. "I'm sorry I have to disrupt you thus late, Mr Cheren, but I've got something of the highest priority to discuss with you." He panted a little, but his determination distracted the surprised people in front of him from that fact.

"So then, how may I help you?", Cheren inquired, hiding his anger towards the student who behaved as impolite as impatient, going against the rools of the dormitary by being outside at this time.

Hugh caught his breath and elaborated: "After we came back from the field trip, I found this pendant. One of the girls in my class must have lost it. It contains an image of this guy who was supposed to lead Team Plasma two years ago. And there's also a data stick with a list of all the Pokemon they stole!"

"Team Plasma...", Cheren repeated incredulous.

Next to him, Lenora's face darkened. She already concluded what Hugh would reveal now. "That means one of the girls here is a member of Team Plasma", he detected. "I need your help to draw her out. She might be realizing the locket is missing just now."

And indeed, Whi-Two was missing it just then. She had searched through all her drawers and lockers. The pockets of her old uniform were her last hope. And inwardly she already knew they were empty as well. She couldn't believe she lost the pendant N's sisters had given her before they fled the castle. It had been a great honor they chose her to keep it save, and she failed at her task. The stored data stick didn't hold any information about the hiding place of her lord, so she didn't give it a closer look. But the picture always helped her to feel better in hard times and keep faith. She had to think carefully about where she could had lost it. She still had it the night before. Since then, she had been on the way to the bus and in the Pokestar Studios. She planned to go off the route to the bus stop the next day. She would most likely find it there, except...

The girl shuddered at the thought she successfully avoided until then. "...someone found it. Someone knows."

* * *

It was almost midnight when Looker walked down to the dock of Virbank City. He noticed the ship that was supposed to be property of Neo Team Plasma at once, the highly technological look and similar colour scheme to their logo gave it away. The next oddity he recognized was a couple standing at the end of the pier inconspicuously. Taking a closer look, he realized the boy was Lack-Two.  
Looker immediately saluted stuffily. "Reporting for duty, superintendent.", he whispered, making sure the two people in front of him would be the only ones hearing him. It wasn't like there seemed to be many people around who could have heard him, which contributed to the gloomy atmosphere of the town's harbour, but he intended to strictly followed the protocol for such an infiltration mission nevertheless.

"Took you long enough", the girl next to the young agent murmured.

"Looker, this is Roxie", the boy introduced his accompanist. "She is the local gym leader. Our superiors asked her to assist us in this mission."

Roxie used the opportunity to tease them. "They don't think you can do it on your own", she kidded. Lack-Two just ignored it, but Looker was somehow incensed. Still, he decided not to say anything to defend himself, since he didn't want to make a big deal out of what he hoped was meant as a joke.

The high-ranking officer looked at his high tech-watch. "Actually, you arrived at just the right time. A former Team Plasma member who is now active as a spy will let down the gangway for us in a few seconds", he explained.  
And this very thing happened about fifteen seconds later. The agents and their new ally didn't waste time and ran up the ramp.

As they entered the ship, they heard some grunts shout out confused questions. "Who let the gangway down?", was the one asked most often. It didn't take long until the intruders were surrounded by Team Plasma's lowest-ranked members in their new black uniform. They wouldn't fend anybody off, just give the leaders time to react properly.

Slowly, Zinzolin made his way towards the crowd. "You finally made your move. We've been waiting the entire evening. Our time is precious, you know...", he complained.

"You expected us?", Looker asked unbelieving.

"Of course", Lack-Two rolled his eyes, not seeming surprised at all. "They observed you spying on them in the afternoon and awaited us." Predicting the mistakes of his allies was also a skill the boy meant to make good use of. Now he turned towards the member of the seven sages. "But I expected a better trap than some random grunts."

Zinzolin rumbled angry. "These 'random grunts' will end your rebellion now!", he yelled. The soldiers called out their Pokemon, which were mainly poison types like Trubbish and Koffing, but also dark types like Liepard and Krokorok.

"Looker, Roxie, I expect you to take care of these nuisances", the Interpol leader directed at his assistants. "I'll deal with Zinzolin."  
He walked towards the grunts' commander while the other two called out their Pokemon, Croagunk and Scolipede, and attacked the henchmen with them.

"I'd love to see you try", the sage raged and called out his Cryogonal.

Lack-Two sent his Dewott forward and prepared for battle. "Come on, Dewott, let's show him what we've got."


	2. vs. Cryogonal - Lines Of The Enemy

"Dewott, use Razor Shell", Lack-Two ordered, and his Pokemon immediately stormed forward to hit their opponent it with its weapons, but the Cryogonal seemed like it didn't want to dodge the blow at all, despite its low physical defense.

Zinzolin grinned, waiting with his command until the hit landed. "Signal Beam, now!", he shouted. The water type tried to elude the multicolored ray, but it was to close to his opponent. It was grazed by the bug type move and took about as much damage as it had dealt.

Of course, the Interpol agent wasn't unprepared for this. Being damaged was something he intended to use to his advantage. "Strike back with Revenge." Dewott started another attack that would have dealt way more damage than the last one due to the increase in power after being attacked, but the ice type shielded itself with Protect.

Once again, Lack-Two's Pokemon ended up uncomfortably close to its foe. "Nice try", the sage laughed. "Wipe it out with Solar Beam!" A Power Herb frozen to Cryogonal's torso suddenly began to glow and before the boy was able to react, the powerful grass type move hit Dewott right in the belly. The Pokemon crashed into the railing of the ship and almost fell over it.  
Still, the otter got up again. Lack-Two's face darkened. He knew his tactics to rely on Torrent during battles against stronger opponents like Genesect wouldn't be of great use in this battle. His adversary used the higher level of his Pokemon to withstand his assaults. And when his partner got close enough, it would charge without leaving an opportunity to swerve. Just like he wanted to counteract the weakness of being open to enemy attacks by using it to activate Torrent or strenghten Revenge, the foe counteracted its low physical defense by luring adversaries in to hit them as directly as possible. For this duel, Dewott didn't need a boost of power but moves to attack from farther distance.  
"Such endurance...", Zinzolin sighed, seeing how the water type stood on its feet a little shakily. "I wish we could have something like that on our side. But it can't be helped, let's bring this to an end." Cryogonal fired an Ice Beam at the weakened opponent. Dewott tried to dodge it, but it was to enfeebled to jump out of the way and ended up being frozen in an ice cube.

The superintendent wasn't too shocked, figuring out a plan to turn the battle at the same moment, he only needed a way to get to his Pokemon unharmed. The shaking of the frigate as Roxie's Scolipede crushed several grunts' Krokoroks with its signature move Steamroller gave him an idea. On the other end of the ship, the gym leader was still busy getting rid of Team Plasma's henchmen with the aid of Looker. If the criminals had anything going for them, it was their strength in numbers. N and the seven sages had done impressive work persuading people to join their cause, even now the consequences of that recruiting were still visible despite the ideology falling apart without N.

He also saw that the older interpol officer was engaged in a battle against a Garbodor, having already gotten rid of a number of smaller poison types. The large garbage Pokemon was about to throw itself on Croagunk using Body Slam. On its Trainer's instructions, the target waited for the perfect moment to use its attack. When Garbodor was exactly above the fighting type, it fired a Mud Bomb into the large Pokemon's belly. The super effective hit changed the trajectory of its fall, it bumped into the wooden ground and hurt itself further, so that another Venoshock could make it lose consciousness.

"You're next, kid!", the member of the seven sages proclaimed, bringing Lack-Two's attention back to his own battle. Having heard that, Cryogonal started to shoot Ice Beams at the boy.

Dodging all the assaults, he managed to send for his subordinate while rushing around. "Looker, I need you to cover me", he called. His subordinate and the Croagunk ran towards the combatants, defeating a hostile Absol with Vacuum Wave on the way there, to draw the ice type's attacks on them instead.

"I got your back", Looker declared. As Cryogonal now aimed at the poison type, Looker wanted to return the hits. "Hit it with Vacuum Wave.", he directed at his Pokemon. His Pokemon stormed towards Zinzolin's cat's-paw, but it averted the blow with Protect again.

Zinzolin shook his head annoyed at the sight of this. The accomplice was even more inconsiderate than his leader. He fell for the same tactics the latter just had to deal with, bringing his Pokemon close to Cryogonal, and he did this without physical attacks that could have caused more damage. "This frigate needs some more decorations. I guess ice statues will serve", he purred. And so Cryogonal outmatched its new opponent just as the last one.

Meanwhile, Lack-Two used the distraction and made it to his frozen Dewott. He took a small mallet out of his pocket and removed the ice from its mouth. Then he fished up a Rare Candy and an Aspear Berry from his bag. He hesitated for a moment. "I hoped I could wait with this for a little longer", he sighed. Then, he laid the food in its mouth gingerly, first the food and then the sweet.  
Zinzolin was just about to order the final blow against Looker's Croagunk as a blazing light caught his eye. It was emanated by Dewott, he quickly found. Not without a loud clang, the ice shattered as it evolved. Before Cryogonal recovered from being blinded by the brightness, it got critically hit by a Hydro Pump. Its special defense was way higher than its physical stat, but it still had a hard time withstanding this hit.

"I better finish you off quickly this time", the sage grumbled. "Use Signal Beam!" The ice type send another ray of motley energy at the recovered militant, but Samurott held against it with another Hydro Pump and pressed the attack back, hurting its opponent once again.

Lack-Two eyed the new power of his Pokemon up more than satisfied. „Looker, go back to help Roxie. Arrest the grunts in the name of the International Police as soon as they are all defeated. I can take care of the rest now", he instructed the assistant.  
It wasn't like Roxie needed help. Her Scolipede just finished the eighth poison type in a row with its Bulldoze as its trainer ridiculed the losers. When Looker returned to her, all they needed to do was tying up the deadbeats, which was quite easy considering their clumsiness.

Zinzolin saw his mission on the edge of failing when he had to see his entourage being captured. "Fire off another Solar Beam!", he howled desperately at his Pokemon. But the Power Herb was already consumed, and because there was no sunlight, it took senselessly long to charge up.

The officer knew that this was his chance to conclude the battle in his favor. "Now, just like we practiced, Samurott", he ordered, hunting up a heavy balloon filled with slightly explosive powder. The Magician prepared it for him a while ago, but he hadn't needed it after all. The move he and his Dewott exercised was perfect for this.  
He threw the balloon shortly in front of Cryogonal. When the weapon was close enough, Samurott used its scalchops like a boomerang and slashed the bomb, causing it to blow up. Zinzolin's Pokemon got caught of guard, and before it was able to shoot of its own attack, it flung against its trainer and fainted.

"Ah, this cold!", the sage shrieked as the ice type crashed into him. He called it back trembling. "It hurts in a way nobody can see from the outside, disgusting and despicable! But nevertheless, it makes me feel alive... I'm using my weakness to become stronger, and no matter how long it takes, as soon as I overcome it, nothing will be able to stop me anymore. Nothing will be able to stop Team Plasma!"

Lack-Two yawned feigned, not interested in his philosophy and even less so in his ramblings. "You are hereby arrested for sustaining an illegal organization that acted against the law on multiple occasions. International Police arm #11, adjustable handcuff!", he stated, took out said bracelets and threw them at Zinzolin, but before they reached the target, a Charge Beam attack hit them and made them decay to Ashes.

"Lack-Two... I remember your name. So you decided to keep on sabotaging Team Plasma's plans", Colress resumed. He was standing on his Klinklang, levitating next to the peak of the ship mast, while holding the arm of his Beheeyem that just brought him here with Teleport. "That's very distressing, though not unexpected. And your Dewott is alive? Maybe you maintain more potential than we thought. You deserve to know that we are about to find the legendary dragon Kyurem. This Pokemon alone will hold enough power to show that my Colress device is truly invincible. And I will give you this proof! That's why I allow you to leave unharmed today, Lack-Two and Lou Karr. But I can't allow you to take my associate in custody. I need him for what's about to come."  
Now he turned towards Zinzolin. "I ordered you to come back to the fulcrum. Why did you ignore my embassies?", he inquired reproachfully. His Pokemon slowly sank down until it hovered only slightly above the ground. The officer decided it was best to wait and watch how this scene proceeded, noting down the information that had just been revealed to him so he could process it later. Infighting within the lines of the enemy was advantageous for him.

"You are in no position to give me orders!", the sage argued with his partner angered.

The scientist was not impressed by this defiance. "I do. Ghetsis made me your superior. So you'll do as I tell you to." There was a hint of delight in his voice about being able to order the irate old man around. "Get rid of these intruders and bring the ship back so we can start our plans", he demanded.

Lack-Two took place next to Samurott and prepared for another battle, but Zinzolin had other things in mind. "Fine, as you wish... Boss", he fizzled, hardly getting the last word out of his mouth, and not saying it without disgust. "Shadow Triad, remove these invaders from our property." The the three figures he had called for appeared near the Interpol agents, but they didn't make a move to attack them.

"You know we're not your servants?", one of them asked huffily.

It was clear Zinzolin was at the end of his authority with how everybody disobeyed him. "Yes, I know. Get rid of them anyway!", he hissed short-tempered. The black-dressed men didn't move.

Colress sighed annoyed, not of the ninja's insubordination towards the sage but of Zinzolin's ill-conceived behavior. "Shadow Triad, would you do me a favor and remove these invaders in the name of Ghetsis?", he asked mannerly.

"That sounds more manageable", the second member of the group commended. Zinzolin had to hold back an outrage when the three of them stormed towards the officers. The latter wanted to order their Pokemon to keep them away, but suddenly, their vision went dark, they weren't able to feel anything, and seconds later, as they regained their eyecare, they found themselves back on the dock alone.

"What happened?", Roxie screeched bewildered. She was still unable to stand, which was why she leaned against her Scolipede, which lay on the ground near unconsciousness. The grunts' Pokemon hadn't landed any hard hits, but the sheer number of them had taken a toll on the bug type, and whatever the Shadow Triad did had taken its last strength

But that wasn't the strangest thing they saw that night: It didn't take a minute until the ship was ready to leave. Not by driving through the water, but by flying away. Nozzles started working at the ship's belly, the sails transformed into wings, and the frigate raised to the night sky to disappear in it.

Looker was the first one to speak after they got what just betided. "They got away. It was all for nothing", he groaned.

Lack-Two contradicted his statement. "Obviosly you have overlooked a few things when you say it was for nothing. We've learned a lot about their frigate and have gotten a glimpse of the infighting between their leaders, we can estimate the power of Zinzolin and we know we have to watch out for this so-called Shadow Triad now. Last but not least, Colress told us what they're planning. As I said, he's naive."

"So we are supposed to find that Kyurem before they do", the older detective comprehended, a little overwhelmed by how much the superintendent had picked up.

His superior confirmed this. „Exactly. But first, you'll write the report for this mission. You'll hand it to me tomorrow morning, then I'll be able to give you new instructions."

"Yes, superintendent", Looker agreed, and after a stiff salute he ran towards the town with his Croagunk, leaving his leader alone with the gym leader.

The boy turned to her with a smile that would have usually been associated with the role he played in front of the other students. "Alright Roxie, thanks for all your help with this mission. I guess I'll see you at the Cultural Festival on Saturday. Remember, when the girls come to ask you for an attendance at the concert, tell them Lack-Two already invited you." He winked as he turned to follow his assistant back to Aspertia City.

The bandleader giggled as he used a grappling iron to jump over the buildings unseen. She herself also stood up and got a Lemonade out of a nearby vending machine and made her Pokemon drink it, helping it to recover quickly. "What do you think... Him and me?", she asked dreamily. Her Scolipede hummed drowsily in response. "You're probably right", Roxie laughed as she interpreted her friends sound.

* * *

"Please, mom! We need to move away", Whi-Two pleaded. "Whoever found my pendant won't wait long until he blows our cover." She had sneaked out of her room in the dormitory at five o' clock in the morning and ran towards her mother's new home in the downtown area.

Her mother wasn't happy about this appearance at all. "It's bad enough you lost it in the first place. And now you're coming here earlier than the Pidoves awake to tell me we have to give up everything we worked for during the last months?", her mother roared.

The girl didn't like it either, it had been hard enough for her to accept that she would have to leave the locket behind that had given her the energy to push through in spite of every queasy feeling. "Mom, if they find out about our past, they'll imprison us outright, then everything we've worked for is lost as well", she tried to emphasize with both their persecutors and the one she wanted to convince.

"But they can't find it out", the older woman asserted. „As long as you don't do anything rash, nobody can prove that it's yours. So better forget about the pendant. Even when someone asks you if it belongs to you, answer that you've never seen it before." That was the response Whi-Two had feared. Because she feared resisting when presented with an opportunity would be even harder than just leaving.

And she had the feeling that there was a person who would make her do something rash without great effort. She could only hope that he wasn't the one who had found her possession. But getting away from this boy who had an effect on her she didn't understand was another positive aspect of moving somewhere else, so she made another attempt. "And what if I do something rash? At least be ready to migrate if they..."

"No!", her mother screamed. When the girl winced anxious, the mother realized what she just did and calmed herself down. "No. You have to keep cautious now. We don't have enough money to move away another time, so we'll stay here, no matter what happens. Leave your past behind and finally start over. Maybe get a boyfriend so you can forget about Lord N... And now please go back to the dormitory before anyone notices you're missing."

Before her daughter could say another word, she pushed her out of the door and laid down on the couch. This girl made her crazy. They were supposed to start a new life, but she knew her daughter still waited for a message from N or her old friends. She didn't understand that this was not supposed to be an issue for them anymore. Allowing her to be the one to receive that data stick from Anthea and Concordia had been a mistake. The woman decided the first thing she'd do after sleeping a little longer was to dispose of their old Team Plasma uniforms.


	3. vs. Weavile - In The Shadows

"Here is the report you requested, superintendent", Looker said as he handed a folder to Lack-Two, who sat voluntarily uncomfortably in his desk chair. It was six o' clock on a Thursday morning, and nobody else was awake yet, so the officer hadn't been forced to put much effort into sneaking in.

His superior hadn't slept all night. He had arrived in his room four hours ago, but something had kept him wakeful. This something most likely applied to Colress' words. _Maybe you maintain more potential than we thought._ This had a meaning other than the most obvious. Could it be...  
Whatever this meant, he couldn't tell his assistant just yet. "Thanks. Now we need to prepare for our next step. The headquarters informed me that Team Plasma's frigate was spotted flying towards Relic Castle after it left ", he recounted instead.

"So we'll head there next", the older agent inferred.

But Lack-Two shook his head, which seemed to be a habit whenever his subordinate said anything at all. "No, you'll head there next", he corrected.

Looker was unable to see a satisfactory reason for that. "So you are going to stay here? Why is that? Clearly in light of our opponents' power and numbers it would be advantageous for us to stay together, right?", he inquired. Suddenly, he got an idea. "It's not because of your girlfriend, is it?"

Lack-Two frowned at the lack of understanding. "Looker, we need the data she conceals, otherwise we won't stand a chance against Colress' devise as soon as its finished", he lied. This wasn't actually the reason for him to stay. What his subordinate said was, at least mainly, wrong as well, and what he'd add wasn't his motive, too. "Besides, you can train fighting in harder environment this way."

The loyal law enforcer noticed something was odd about the high-ranking officer's behavior, but he decided it was best to let him figure it out by himself. "I'm honored you trust me with this mission!", he thanked simply, saluting stiffly.

"Trust is naive. It exists only to be crushed", the young man muttered. His counterpart didn't hear his voice anymore. He saw himself as dismissed and left through the window again.  
When he was nowhere to be seen anymore, Lack-Two put the folder containing the report in a drawer, laying it upon the report about their battle with Genesect. He had discarded the idea of sending them to his superiors. They knew about nothing but his search for the former Team Plasma grunt. Something had felt odd to him the whole time, and until he'd figure out what this meant, he'd keep the special missions of him and his assistants a secret.  
The truth was, he had asked Roxie to help them himself, just as he had hired the Magician on his own. Trust was naive in his business, and individuals were more reliable than certain groups of persons...

* * *

As the last lesson of the following school day ended, everyone in the room had different feelings: Hugh was filled with anticipation because Cheren had taken the pendant from him and said he'd see if he could help. Leo worried about the obsession of his roommate who had already told him about his so-called success. Lack-Two was suspicious that his classmate planned something unwisely, at least it was the first time he actually saw him smile. At least he was enough of an insomniac to hide his lack of sleep without effort and not be affected by it himself.  
Whi-Two just looked around scared. She knew it didn't have to be one of the students from her class who had found her possession, but what if one of them already knew? "What if he already knows..." Wait, where did that come from?  
But all of them were left hanging. Cheren dismissed them without doing anything notably.

When they all left the classroom, Lack-Two waited until Hugh went in another direction. It surprised him that nothing had happened, but he was relieved that this would give him more time to set the stage for himself. He made a mental note to talk with Leo about what his roommate was up to. For now, he concentrated on his own plan and, in one of the school's long corridors, caught up on Whi-Two, who felt very uncomfortable within seconds. On the other hand she had been uncomfortable the entire day, so maybe he wasn't the source of it this time.  
"Hey, Whi-Two. I wondered if you'd like to go out with me again to collect data for the Pokedex", he addressed her with this heart-melting smile.

She had been wrong, he definitely was the source of her discontent. "I won't go anywhere with you!", she snapped, the uneasyness she had been feeling ever since she had found her pendant was lost unloading. It didn't take long for her to regret this reaction. It wasn't likely that he had found it judging by how he still treated her the same way as he had before, so she was just acting suspicious for no reason. Or he did find it and was trying to seperate her from the others to bust her. In her state she didn't even think about his offer by itself.

The surrounding girls, however, were left shocked by her words. "How can she say that to Lack-Two?", Yuki asked unbelieving, speaking out what all the girls had in mind.

"I mean... No, I'd rather give that Pokedex-thing away, I won't be much of a help for filling it anyway", she corrected herself quickly after realizing her inappropriate tone and apologized as nondescriptly as possible.

Her counterpart noted all this very attentively but decided to overplay it with feigned disappointment. "Oh, sorry. I thought you liked helping Professor Juniper", he said, pretending to be upset. The others around them fell for this, but Whi-Two didn't care.

"You thought I like being pushed around by wild Pokemon?", she cried again. This time, she didn't do anything about the following whispers. One thing was for sure, she didn't want an encounter like this again.

Lack-Two nodded acceding. "You're right, I should have protected you better. I'm sorry!", he apologized, his voice seeming genuine. It actually worried him a bit. He pushed these thoughts aside – he had to stay focused. At least he had no problems to ignore the shouts of the other girls saying he shouldn't blame himself.

The girl stayed quiet for a moment too long, thinking about how to respond. She noticed how he made her feel unpleasant again, forcing her into the defensive so she wouldn't drop her guard as soon as he asked her one of those tricky questions he used thus proficiently. And then, there was this other sensation she still couldn't understand, the part of her that immediately forgave him. What was he making of her?  
She remarked she had to answer, and decided for the most natural respond. "Apology taken. But I'd like to take a break from it anyway", Whi-Two avouched.

"Well, I understand that. Then maybe we can do something else sometime soon?", he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, why not...", she agreed slowly. Had she really just said that? His smile told her she did. Of course, he was always smiling. But the way he smiled now - she saw truthful gladness in it. That gladness hid his winning satisfaction from her.

In the background, the girls groaned. Now they started to whisper about how much better they could treat the popular and talented boy. He still didn't mind them. He had his target right where he wanted her. "Thanks, Whi-Two. I have an important appointment now, but I'll see you soon, then we can talk about the specifics of the date", he promised with a wink, leaving her completely bewildered. How did he get her to agree to a date? Or did she agree to it by herself... She needed to be careful, he could still be the one holding her pendant, waiting for an opportunity to bust her when they were alone together.  
And she was partly right with this thought. Notwithstanding that he hadn't got her pendant, he was sure to be able to bust her. He saw through her shy and repellent facade and noticed she was breaking. She had remained guardedly longer than all the others, but she would break eventually. The change of her behavior was apparent to him: At first, she always tried to get away from him as fast as possible. After their first trip and the encounter with Keldeo, she took her time to observe him after waking up before she moved away from him. In the Pokestar Studios, she allowed him to be her hero until the camera stopped, which was obviously not because she wanted it to be a good movie since she didn't like such attention at all. And now, she didn't send him away when he asked to spent more time with her. Yes, she finally started to fall for his touch. So why wasn't he happy?

* * *

The coin flew through the empty room, landing perfectly in the slot of the fake jukebox standing lonely in the empty cafe. Lack-Two was practiced in throwing coins like this by now. He was sure that, one day, this would get useful someway else. The boy stepped into the elevator, went through the disinfection progress and entered the great lab of the Magician.  
It felt like the way was faster without Looker. "You're alone today?", the owner of the secret room asked surprised.

"I sent my subordinate to Relic Castle on his own. It's just me and a long list of things I need", his client amended as he moved through the shadows of the dimly lit room and threw a bundle of bank notes on the table.

Magician smiled indecipherable. "Well, let's work that list of yours then", he said enthusiastic.

"First of all, I want you to check my Dewott, or better, Samurott", the boy requested and released his Pokemon from its capsule.

His manager nodded and took his time to examine the now evolved water type. "Its health is definitely alright", he reported when he was done. "Its strength has increased tremendously. But it's a little less agile now, so I'd advise you to adjust your fighting style. Base it on special attacks like Hydro Pump and avoid close combat. Though you should still train for it since some opponents force you into it, but who am I to tell you that."  
Lack-Two nodded approvingly, so Magician took out a strange disk and handed it to him. "This is the TM13. You can teach Samurott Ice Beam with it, I'd like to have it back after you use it", he explained.

"Thanks, I'll give it back when I'm done with it. The next thing I need is someone who helps this Pokemon out of its misery", the agent continued and called out his newest ownership, Genesect.

"Wow, the dream of every researcher!", the top-head wearing man cheered. "So you want me to peel it out of the armor. But wouldn't this actually be the job of your HQ?"

His counterpart simply shook his head. "I have good reasons for asking you, I just can't reveal them yet.", he admitted. Magician understood, and when the boy called it back into the Pokeball, he received it as gently as gratefully.  
At the expectant look of the man, the superintendent got to the next point on his list. "I also require another hundred Pokeballs", he said.

For a moment, the scientist tilted his head at the high number, but then he agreed. "As good as done. Is there anything else you need?"

Lack-Two handed him a print from the information gathered in his notebook. "I've collected some new information about the 'Colress Device'. Do you think you can invent a bridging with this?", he inquired, even though he already knew the most likely response.

His manager shook his head. "You know that without the exact blueprints, I can't counteract the effect", he reminded once again. "You'll have to find that girl who hides them first."

The officer quickly changed the topic. "The last thing I have to ask for is something to neutralize the fiendish powers of the Shadow Triad." Magician asked him to describe their sinews, so he did, leaving out no detail about how they moved and what it felt like: "They made our senses malfunctioning for about five minutes by hitting us speedily. At this, they were incredibly fast, but I guess that's because of good practice. They appear and vanish out of nothing as well."

"Hm...", his manager pondered for a moment. "I think I heard of this before. There is no way to make you immune to the effect, but I guess I know how to stop them from performing their technique. I have anything I need around, so it'll take me about an hour. You may wait here if there's nothing else you have to do."

So he started his work, and Lack-Two sat down on the couch, thinking. He was thinking about his mission, about Looker's task and about her. And when Magician glanced over at him, it reminded him of something. Something he didn't like.  
"What's aggrieving you, Lack?", he asked, aware that he was being informal.

The boy looked up and shot him a look of confusion. "I have no idea what you mean", he said. It sounded honest, but it wasn't. And they both knew that.

Magician sighed. Slowly, he took of his top-hat and the strange specs, revealing he was not an adult, but a kid at the same age like his client. "Lack, how long have we been friends now?", he wanted to know as he sat down next to him.

"Three years, I suppose", the addressed muttered. He felt the slight urge to tell his manager to get back to work, still he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"And in these three years, I've seen this look on your face just once except for right now. That was when you started to like that girn named Yancy", his interlocutor remembered. "So who is it this time?"  
Lack-Two growled, but he knew Magician wouldn't subside until he found out. Telling himself he had to get this over with to send him back to his task, he wordlessly took out his notes and showed him the hand-drawn picture of Whi-Two, to which his manager nodded. "She's definitely someone you can lay your eyes on", he acceded.

But the young superintendent just gave him a slightly angered look. "She's the target", he added bitterly.

The eyes of the Magician widened. "You don't mean...", he wanted to make sure he could follow.

However, the officer disrupted him. "I don't have any feelings for her other than sympathy", he attempted to affirm, partly to himself.

"Denying it won't help you", his manager assessed with a clear understanding of what was going on in the officer's head. "The sooner you accept your feelings, the better you can find a way to deal with them."

Lack-Two knew he was right, but he wasn't allowed to feel this. He grew mad at himself for starting to actually like her, and he was sure about the following: "She is a criminal, after all, and if the Interpol found out I had a true relationship with her, I would have to say goodbye to my status, so I'll do my job and get this over with."

Magician sighed again, but he had to smile a little as well. "It's funny to hear that from your mouth. Back when we became acquainted with each other, your motto was _What's worth the price is always worth a fight_. Or does that only apply to the steps on your missions and not to your own wishes?"

These words brought Lack-Two's mind to memories he seriously didn't want to remember, so he guided the conversation in another direction. "I'm not just suspicious about her, though", he revealed.

"What else is troubling you?", Magician asked anxiously.

The young agent looked away from his friend, a little relieved the distraction worked. "Something is odd about this mission. The HQ is keeping me here, and they send nobody else to stop Team Plasma from their escapades. If I hadn't made the decision to follow their sightings myself, we wouldn't know what they are doing in Virbank City or Relic Castle. I think our information, maybe even our entire communications, are getting distorted somehow."

"You think somebody foists you wrong messages?", the other boy recapitulated. Lack-Two nodded. "Well, if Team Plasma really fools you, the information for the mission you sent your assistant on might be fake as well", he deduced.

"That's why I stayed here. If it is a trap, my suspicions will be confirmed.", the officer proclaimed.

Magician picked up on something else that meant. "But you haven't told him about the danger, have you?", he worried. "Your assistant is out there on his own, condemned to blunder right into their trap. You can't let that happen on your watch again, Lack."

"I know what I'm doing!", the superintendent snapped. He didn't like the way this discussion proceeded, so he finally chose to end it straight away. "Would you mind going back to your work now, I need those things before they become needed."

Silence filled the room. There was no arguing with his commanding voice. "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, mate", the researcher mumbled as he sat down at his table, putting the specs and the top-hat back on.

* * *

For a passerby, it was a horrifying view. Opelucid City, the great home of the legendary dragon type Pokemon, was completely covered by gigantic icecaps. A few minutes ago, the frigate of Team Plasma made a big show out of flying over the city and shooting icy cannonballs to the ground, which caused tree high ice crystals to expand from the ground.  
Normally in such situations, it was Drayden, the mayor and local gym leader, who saved the day and protected the civilians. But this time, he was the target of Team Plasma's onslaught. Urged against the wall of the gym Iris was busy fighting grunts in, he called out his last conscious Pokemon, Haxorus, to fight off the enemies. His current opponent was a Weavile owned by a member of the Shadow Triad. His associates were inside the building, searching for something.

"Come on, we can't let them get what they want! Hit it with Dragon Tail", Drayden ordered. He was known to be a strong and excited duelist, but right now his blood was pumping not from excitement but fear. His attacks didn't leave even the tiniest scratch on the ice that had ruined his city, and Team Plasma's henchmnen had gotten even tougher than they had been two years ago during the League incident. He couldn't let those he protected down, he had to beat all these opponents despite the type disadvantage.

They didn't care much for his determination, though. "He's strong indeed. We have no time for this", the black figure breathed. „Weavile, use Icicle Crash." The powerful ice type respired into its claws, the air freezed and within fractions of seconds, it held sharp icicles in its hand. It threw one at the approaching foe, dealing appreciable damage already, and used the other one like a sword to counter the attack of Haxorus.  
In the end, Weavile won the duel, and the dragon had problems to survive the blow.

Drayden had to use his last chance to turn the battle now, which was the adversary's great weakness against fighting type attacks. "Haxorus, beat it fast. Brick Break", he shouted to his Pokemon. His adversary was faster, though.

"End this with Ice Shard", the shadow commanded, well aware of the great damage this attack would have caused. But before Haxorus was able to even come close to its opponent, it was hit by the fast strike that knocked it out.  
The member of the Shadow Triad yawned a little as he called his Pokemon back. "Hiding the DNA Splicers in the gym was well thought out. If Drayden isn't there, we can't get in. If he is there, he's the strongest guard we could possibly face. But not strong enough. We will accomplish our goals, no matter what the cost. Even when we don't have the ability to captivate the hearts of others like Lord N does. Instead, we will bend people to our will with brute force. Two years was a surprisingly long wait."

Just as Drayden wanted to comment on his speech, the second member came out of the gym. "I found the DNA Splicers. Let's leave before they send reinforcements", he murmured.

"No, I won't allow you to-", the mayor of the town started, but now the third Shadow stormed out of the edifice behind him and used his technique to paralyze him. Drayden's unconscious body hit the cold ground as they made their way through the icy masses with the key to the power they needed to take over Unova.


	4. vs. Volcarona - Duel In The Desert

"Come back here, you are under arrest!", Looker yelled. A bunch of Neo Team Plasma grunts ran away from him through the beaten pathways in the sand as he tried to capture them. His Croagunk kept shooting Venoshock-attacks at the foes, but it was still unable to hit because of the sandstorm.

The agent had tracked the thieves down at Route 4 in the evening and followed them to the Desert Resort. By now, he had found out the frigate he had been searching only stopped in the area for a short time. But a few henchmen had stayed behind to do some dirty work, and any capture could lead to someone confessing the evil organization's ture plans, so he kept chasing after them. Eventually he pursued them to cliff in the north, where they couldn't escape anymore. One of them called out a Scrafty to defend them. "You won't get us that easily", he assessed.

"Croagunk, use Vacuum Wave", Looker addressed his Pokemon. This time, it landed a hit. A critical one. A very fast critical one.

The Scrafty almost broke down immediately, but it kept standing. "Counter with High Jump Kick", the grunt ordered. Apparently he only had not very effective moves and therefore decided to go with the strongest. His Pokemon jumped towards its opponent with high speed and altitude, trying to strike it with its foot from above.

The poison type prepared to dodge it, but Looker commanded otherwise. "Wait, Croagunk..." The foe came closer and closer. "Wait..." Scrafty raised his arms to fall faster and hit as hard as possible. "Now, use Mud Bomb on the ground", Looker shouted. His partner fired a heavy blow at the sand beneath it and vanished in the mud it created. The dark type lost its target and crashed into the ground instead, hurting itself to the point of fainting. The officer's plan had worked, obviously he wasn't the only one having trouble to land precise hits in the difficult terrain, and he could use that to his advantage even when he couldn't do something to hit better himself.

Now that the battle was won and the henchmen had nowhere to go, the Interpol member pulled out a long rope and tied the criminals to an old pillar. "That kid will finally respect me when he hears of my success", he told himself proudly as he called his Pokemon back and fished his communication device up from one of his pockets, just to find out he had no signal at his current position.  
"Come on, work", he cursed the machine as he walked around to make the system run. Just as it started to function, he trembled, and when he fell to the ground, the sand swallowed him within seconds.

"Looker? Looker, where are you?", Lack-Two's voice resounded from the device that landed in the sand as he fell. When he didn't get a response, he ended the call. Afraid of what could happen if his subordinate was beaten, the superintendent knew he had to organize help. But there was only a select number of people he could he speak candidly with.

* * *

White was still busy, even though she had finished her work for the day hours ago. She was used to spending her Wednesday and Sunday evenings like this. Whenever she was done in her company early, she dedicated the rest of her energy to find a way to get him back. It had taken her almost two years to find the Light Stone in the swamps near Route 8, and now she needed to free him from this prison Ghetsis had forced him into. He paid off his debt, and now she had to pay off hers.  
She had already tried to bring the stone back to where it, following Lenora's researches, was created by the white dragon, and to where Reshiram entered it for the last time, but these places hadn't triggered anything. And her hopes of finding N in the ruins of his castle so he could help her had left her, too. Attempting to crack it like a nut was useless as well. She now searched for every information anyone had ever found out about the rock. They all leaded to one conclusion: It would only open for a 'hero of truth'. So her agency had gotten involved in the casting for the newly found Pokestar Studios, where she could both pursue her job and look out for a person fitting the criteria.

She was thus lost in her thoughts about whether the two students who had played Dewott Kid and Foongus Girl for her on their field trip would be suited to help her that she missed the ringing of her Xtransceiver for the first two times. The third call was finally noticed by the young woman.  
As she pressed the button, a relieved voice greeted her cheering. "Oh, White, I just started to fear you wouldn't answer", Bianca said.

"Bianca? It's been too long. How is working with Professor Juniper like?", White asked, happy to see her old friend on the screen.

But Bianca had no time to waste. "As much as I'd like to tell you everything about it, we have no time at the moment. The professor just got an anonymous message. Someone was captured by Team Plasma grunts in the Desert Resort, and a professional needs to help him. I would go, too, but my father doesn't allow me to leave Nuvema Town lately. Are you still in Castelia City?"

White payed attention to every detail, sighed and stood up from her working table. "Yes, but not for long now. I'll be there as fast as I can", she determined.

"Good luck!", the professor's assistant wished and ended the call so she wouldn't hold her off any longer.

* * *

Looker crashed hard onto the ground of ancient ruins. He looked around. All he spotted were stairs leading deeper into the building complex. He searched for his communication device, but it was still lying in the sand above him. The only things he had with him were some ropes and his Pokemon. Seeing that the ceiling wasn't perforated, he saw his only option in going down the stairs and searching for a different way out.  
It took him hours to navigate through the corridors of the old, long abandoned fortress. He had already noticed that the building was built like a labyrinth after a few minutes, but that didn't help him. He had to be in the lowest storey when his high-tech clock showed him it was midnight. He was tired, hungry and frustrated. And his ordeal had only begun.

Suddenly, he heard a bang in one of the chambers nearby. As he entered it, he saw some sort of shrine for a being that looked like a mixture of a bug and the sun. He searched the room for the source of the explosion or any other oddities, but there weren't more interesting things than old scrolls that would have disintegrated as soon as one looked askance at them.

He turned to leave the chamber again. It was then when he spotted another communication device lying in the doorway. While he still wondered how he could have missed it, the machine activated and showed an image of Colress. "Welcome, Lou Karr, I have been waiting for you", he greeted the agent before quickly getting to the point. "As you may have noticed, Relic Castle was once built for a Pokemon that was seen as the incarnation of the sun. They even praised it like a legendary Pokemon."

Looker grumbled. "I know all this, I did my research. You almost sound like the superintendent. Why are you explaining it to me?", he wanted to know.

The _Dark Scientist_ frowned at his impatience. "Neo Team Plasma decided that you need to get out of our way. I decided that this is the best place to take you down. Ghetsis decided that the Pokemon they call Volcarona is the best choice for the job. And that's why you are here." As he ended the sentence, the door got crashed close by a remote controller. The officer was trapped inside.  
This disrupted the connection rather harshly as the Transceiver got stuck beneath the door. With Colress no longer talking, it wasn't hard for the next bang to catch the detective's attention. It was a light-blue bug with dark orange wings that gave it the shape of the sun like it was illustrated in old paintings who destroyed the wall by shooting fireballs at it. Looker had seen a Volcarona before, since Ghetsis had used one to battle the trainer known as Black during the league incident. He assumed this was the same one.

Maybe the man would have been afraid in such a situation a few weeks ago, but now he was determined to do his job as good as his superior would do it. "Come on, Croagunk, we can do this", he called on his Pokemon. "Use Venoshock!"  
The poison type did so, and hit the opponent multiple times while it just danced around. Unknown to Looker, it prepared its signature move, Fiery Dance. The fire around the agent grew more and more, until he was completely surrounded by the flames. "Now hit it with Mud Bomb", Looker yelled as he noticed it closing in. Volcarona dodged the attack and shot precised fire balls at his Pokemon, defeating it with ease. Its special attack had gotten higher from the previous moves, one could tell.

Sweat dropped down his forehead as he called it back, and that wasn't just because of the increasing heat in the room. Now he had no more options. Just as he was about to abandon hope, a Stunfisk fell through the layer of sand above him. A young woman that somehow seemed familiar to him followed.

She analyzed the situation quickly, silently thanking her luck for not burning herself during the fall, then got to action. "Dorothy, put these flames out with Muddy Water", she ordered. Her Pokemon did so. Volcarona watched it calmly, rather using Quiver Dance than attacking its new foe.

"From where do I know you?", Looker asked, confused about the unexpected help.

But White was concentrated on the following battle. "All you need to know is that I was sent here to save you", she said. Then she turned to her Pokemon again. Fighting wasn't her strength, she had always been uncomfortable letting her actors and actresses participate in real battles. But she had long accepted that in situations like these, protecting herself and others was most important. "Well done, now attack that bug." As the ground type created another wave of mud, Volcarona floated towards the ceiling to evade it and started to scream loudly. The attack, Bug Buzz, hit Stunfisk's untrained ears and knocked it out, thanks to the boosts acquired by its dancing.

"That's one powerful Pokemon", Looker admired. He took an empty Pokeball from his belt and threw it at Team Plasma's tool. In the exact moment the ball touched it, an invisible force made it explode. "Don't tell me they proofed their devise against controlled Pokemon being captured now", the officer whined.

White rolled her eyes. "Come out, Barbara, and use Pluck." The Vullaby materialized right in front of the legendary bug and hit it before it could react.  
But the opponent survived the assault, and began to fill the room with flames again. The girl gave her Pokemon a signal, and it launched a Faint Attack at the fire type. Sadly, this attack didn't cause much damage at all, and now Mandibuzz was affected by one of the fire balls, which dealt a lot of damage.

Looker was close to starting to panic another time. "You've got something else up your sleeve?", he wanted to know.

White really got into battling by now. "I'm just getting started", she affirmed. "Show that thing your Rock Tomb."  
The bird flew out of the way of another fire ball and stepped on the ground with its feet, causing some stones to bump out of the wall next to Volcarona to surround it. Team Plasma's Pokemon threw itself out of the way and collided with a pillar. While it had to recover from that, Barbara landed another strike with Pluck.  
The bug became angry now, creating dancing fire and making insufferable noises at the same time. Even though these attacks didn't have a type advantage against the flying type and the latter's defense was not to be underestimated, they dealt great damage nevertheless. White needed a solid hit now to end this. "Use another Rock Tomb, be creative with your stage", White demanded. The foe prepared to dodge the assault, expecting it coming from the wall again, but this time it thrust through the ceiling, knocking it on the head and making it faint immediately. As it was beaten, the surrounding fire ceased to burn.

"We did it!", Looker cheered at the sight of that.

White giggled at this comment. "What did you do again?", she asked.

The agent blushed. "Well... I rooted for you", he mentioned.

"Yeah, you were great at that, no difference to a theater audience", she praised him sarcastically. Then she turned towards the beaten opponent. "What are we going to do with this beast now?", the young woman questioned.

"We'll bring it to a scientist who knows how to counteract the effect of the Colress Devise that controlled it", Looker decided to sound assuring even though there was no such scientist yet, and even though she wasn't supposed to know. "I mean... We will..."

White shook her head amused. "Drop the act, I know you're that Interpol agent who infiltrated the league tournament two years ago", she stated.

"So you really are the girl I freed from Grey's capture shortly before the rise of their castle", the officer concluded.

Now the head of the BW agency smiled at him. "I'm glad I could return the favor."

The Interpol member saluted happily. "The pleasure is all mine, we're even. You wouldn't happen to know a way out of these ruins?"

The girl pointed at the closed door he came in through. "In this direction there should be a connection to the Relic Passage, which could lead us either to the place where they are building the Pokemon World Tournament or to the Castelia Sewers.", she informed him while they healed their Pokemon so they could break through the door with combined efforts.

Croagunk und Vullaby then proceeded to carry Volcarona behind them as they left. "Back to Castelia sounds like a good plan", they agreed.

* * *

The two made their way through the cave together, fighting a number of weaker wild Pokemon on their way. White wanted to know what had happened to Grey and Hoodman after the incidents in the league, and since his identity was already revealed and there were no other people around, he told her.  
Since Looker had left the grunts tied up in the desert, he had to return there, so the leader of the BW agency agreed to accompany him until they were back on Route 4. When they passed the transition house, Looker took a glimpse at the light indicator. He didn't like what he read there:

_A futuristic ship just flew over Opelucid City and used cannonballs frozen by a powerful ice type Pokemon to turn the town into a field of icebergs. The former gym leader Drayden reports that three figures dressed in black known as the Shadow Triad and servants of Neo Team Plasma attacked him and Iris and stole an ancient artifact called the DNA Splicers. Everyone who holds information about Team Plasma's current position is asked to tell the local authority as soon as possible!_

White noticed him staying there instead of catching up, so she went back to him. "What is there to read?", she asked inquisitive.

Looker shivered as he cursed himself for leaving his communication device somewhere in the Desert Resort. "They found Kyurem. I need to tell my superior at once." Saying that, he ran off in the opposite direction, leaving the business woman alone.


	5. vs. Spinda - Move On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick note to avoid confusion: 'Nancy' is Yancy's stage name as an idol, so which name is used depends on who calls for her. Both expressions can be correct.

Cheren looked happily at his Transceiver, which showed a picture of the popular young idol he had asked for. "I'm very grateful that you agreed to visit my class today, Nancy. The lesson about Unova's culture starts at half past eleven, I hope to discuss some things with you beforehand, so we can meet at eleven o' clock if you'll be here by then", he informed her.

"It's my pleasure, Mr Cheren", Yancy thanked. "I'll arrive in time." She ended the call and looked at the wide sea.  
The sun just began to rise. The girl had been invited to tell something about her new work a week before. On the day ago, she had left Nimbasa City and headed for the main harbor of Castelia. Now she leaned over the railing of a small steamboat. Next to her manager and the crew, there was just a man with a brown trenchcoat who looked around being suspicious the entire time sharing the ride with her. She was optimistic, what could possibly ruin such a nice, sunny day?

* * *

Shortly - too shortly - before the bell began to ring announcing the start of the first lesson, Lack-Two and Leo walked over the playground towards the school building together, just like they were used to. Only this time, they weren't talking about girls, but about Hugh. "Are you sure he's fine? He seems kind of obsessive over something since the field trip", the visor-capped boy asked worried. He worried more about his mission than his classmate, still Leo wasn't completely wrong to assume this was care for the Qwilfish-head.

"After some girls insulted him and he attacked them in return, he found some strange object, apparently. Now he tries to find the rightful owner", his friend revealed, unsure how much he was allowed to give away.

Lack-Two highly doubted the owner was seeked out of kindness. "Do you think he is doing this to make up for attacking them?", he asked nondescribtly.

Leo looked around hesitantly, making sure nobody was close enough to hear him other than his counterpart. He decided to trust him, mainly so he could excuse it to himself that he was horrible at keeping secrets. But his friend wouldn't do anything crazy with this information anyways, he thought. "It is a pendant with the symbol of Team Plasma on its front. He wants to bust the grunt hiding among us", he whispered.

The undercover agent's face darkened. So Hugh had found what he himself was looking for. There needed to be a way he could use this to his advantage... "Really? So what do you think he's planning?", he inquired.

Unfortunately for him, the other boy shook his head troubled. "I have no idea. I just hope he doesn't mess things up. He's quite good at messing things up with his temper."

They entered the school silently. Of course, they were late again, but Cheren was used to it by now, and since they were his undoubtedly best students next to Hugh and Whi-Two, he just ignored it as long as they came in quietly.

* * *

"Students, for today's lesson in Unova's culture, I want you to welcome our guest", Cheren introduced his visitor at the start of the last lesson for the day. "This is Nancy. She worked her way up as an idol in the last months, and is now the youngest idol we've had in the last thirty years." Every student applauded as she entered the classroom in her stage costume, except for one boy who rather concentrated on his notepad.

The announced girl walked in front of the teacher's table and looked around the room. Her eyes got stuck on the only boy not eyeing her. _"Of course this is his class. How could I think otherwise?"_ , she thought bitterly, doing her best to ignore it.

Cheren reckoned she hadn't started yet because she believed he would say more. "Nancy is here to tell you all what the work of an idol is like, how one gets into this line of work and what is happening behind the scenes. You may begin", he mentioned, and sat down behind his desk.

"Yes, right, thank you", Yancy snapped out of her sentiment. "Well, becoming an idol is very hard, especially for the younger generation. The process takes a while, you have to go through it parallel to your studies and always give your best when you're on stage despite of the pressure that you may be under. But that doesn't mean it's not worth it. You might have talents better than any adult has, and maybe you don't even know about them yet. The people behind the scenes, like Mr Stu Deeoh who runs the PokeStar Studios or Miss White from BW Agency for example, are always looking for new skills and abilities, and reward your hard work highly. The most rewarding thing, though, is the cheering of the crowd in front of you, nothing makes you feel as satisfied with your performance as that. Like you just welcomed me, for example." Just a little side glance at him was enough to disturb her concept. He still didn't look at her.

"That's not all you have to say, is it?", Cheren frowned when her pause in speech took longer than it should have.

She was startled by this. "Oh, sorry. You sure have learned from your teacher by now that only half of the idols are singers. It doesn't matter if you want to dance, to recite a poem, to do gymnastics or all the rest of it. If you got a talent, you can make it far. And with determination, patience and..." Another glance, this time a longer one.  
When they had first met, he hadn't been able to take his eyes off of her. She considered it to be thus sweet. His practice in wooing girls had paid off for him back then. After a few weeks they spent together in Nimbasa City, she didn't want to live far apart from him, so the girl accompanied him on his way to Aspertia. And then, for the sake of his mission and her career, he suddenly broke up with her.  
It hurt her now to see him ignoring her like that. The idol had to restrain so she wouldn't address him. Noticing she had stopped speaking again, she quickly went on. "As an idol, I have to be ready for daily shows and lectures. They can take place at every time of the day, depending on what kind of event it is, maybe talking in front of a class in the forenoon like now. But after contingent autograph hours, I usually get the rest of the day off. The payment relies on..."

Lack-Two laid his notepad aside. Yancy halted another time, hoping that now he would finally face her. But instead, he glanced at a pretty girl with big hair-buns sitting at a desk close to his. Whi-Two herself didn't notice him, since she was concentrated on the idol like the others. Now the girl couldn't hold her emotions in any longer.

"Are you alright, Miss Nancy?", the teacher asked concerned. His students started noticing something was off as well, looking around confused.

Yancy wanted to agree and just go on like before, but she couldn't. She couldn't keep calm while looking at him treating her like nothing. "I... I just... I have to go to the bathroom", she cried. Then, she stormed out of the classroom.

" _Don't go after her! Don't go after her!"_

"Well, that was a strange performance. I'll go and look after her. You may stay here and wait for the substitute teacher", Cheren prescribed. He knew that he had to take care of whatever this was quickly before it would cause a big sensation, but he didn't feel comfortable about leaving his pupils alone either. Why did this have to happen to him during his first year on the job?

" _Don't go after her! Don't go after her!"_

Leo leaned over to his seat neighbor. "Please tell me you have nothing to do with that, Lack-Two", he pleaded.

The secret agent sighed. "Fine, I'll go after her.", he yielded.

"What have you done to that girl, you jerk?", Hugh inquired angered, mainly about the fact that he wouldn't learn much in this class. But the officer just ignored him as he hurried out of the door.  
The girls began to whisper about what Lack-Two might have to do with the popular idol. Hugh didn't care. Cheren had not pulled off their plan again. Did he think this was a game? At any moment, the grunt could attack the innocent students and steal their Pokemon. He wouldn't let that happen ever again. He wouldn't wait any longer.

* * *

Of course Cheren couldn't find the girl anywhere. He had waited a few minutes in front of the ladies room for her and then inferred that she had never gone there, proceeding to search the school grounds for her to no avail. Only Lack-Two knew the place she was hiding at. They used to have their dates there, where nobody else would spot them, to avoid her losing the job as an idol. He climbed down the muddy trail beneath the lookout and walked over to a bridge above the river near a lake. It led him to a stonewall under a wide roof that cast a shadow over the location.

"It's not useful to visit places connected to what you want to forget like this when you are trying to leave the past behind", he advised the girl that leaned against the wall and buried her head in her legs. Her Spinda patted her leg to soothe her, but to no avail.

"Leave me alone!", Yancy demanded faintly.

Lack-Two didn't think of it. If he wouldn't take care of this properly, it could blow his cover. And he didn't like the thought that he was responsible for her sadness. So instead, he strode towards her slowly and sat down next to her. "You know why I had to break up, don't you?", he asked gingerly. Somebody had once taught him how to behave in such a situation since it could have become necessary for a mission. It felt new and uncomfortable for him regardless of that, luckily for him he could still maintain his aura of calmness.

Her head shot up, her watery makeup was showing she had cried at some point. "But that's just not fair! We could have kept it private, like we did it before", she screamed out, releasing some of the accumulated stress.

"Could you live that way?", he questioned gloomily. "Would you be happy living a lie about a secret relationship forever?" The sentence made him think himself. He knew better than anyone what it was like to live a lie, or better to lie to anybody living with him. It probably meant he could never have the relationship he wanted either. That was the conclusion he reached before even being clear about what relationship he wanted.

The idol sighed at his words. "I don't know. But it's been a while now and I still don't feel like I can get over it. I don't want to be like this either", she stated.

"Be like what? It's better for you now. You're making a great career, and I won't endanger you any further", Lack-Two affirmed.

Yancy frowned. "I would give up my career for you if I had to. And how could you possibly endanger me?", she inquired.

He looked down a little upset, shunning her gaze. "I can't tell you. All I can evince is that you don't know me at all", he disclosed with the hope that it could end her feelings for him.

That statement only angered her. "I know you very well! I would never put so much trust into someone I can't decipher", she yelled. The girl stood up, causing him to do the same. "Even if you pretended it all, I would still like you for how you can be."

Lack-Two shook his head abashed. "I doubt you would still like me if you found out how much I've lied to you about", he inferred.

Whether Yancy read his sentence as an insult or a confession to falsehood, he couldn't tell, but she clearly didn't understand the sentence in the way he intended. "How dare you? Spinda, teach him some manners." Her Pokemon threw its body at the boy desultory. He caught it with ease, gave it an understanding look and sat it on the ground carefully. It remained like that. At the sight of this, the idol fell down to her knees. "Just go away, I want to be alone", she begged as a few tears started running down her face again.

He stepped behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Did I ever mention that you look beautiful in that outfit?", he said as perceptively as he could.

She turned her head, contemplating him hopefully. "You really think so?"

"I've always thought so", he reassured her. "And somewhere out there is a wonderful man who truly deserves you. That man... is just not me."

All of a sudden, she hugged him tightly. He allowed it, seeing that it was likely what she needed. "I want you to know that you are everything I want from a boyfriend. No matter what your true self you're hiding from me is like, it'll be hard to find someone who deserves me like you do", she ascertained.  
They stayed silent in this position for a few minutes. She enjoyed the embrace, knowing that it might be the very last. He put all the love he still held for her in it, on the one hand to make her feel better, on the other hand to get over it himself.

When they parted, Yancy had stopped crying. They smiled at each other meaningfully. "May I escort you back to Cheren now?", Lack-Two asked courteous.

* * *

"But why won't you help me? You said you would do it. This is important, don't you see?", Hugh yelled at his teacher. He had searched for him the whole time once the substitute teacher had dismissed him.

Cheren groaned. "Can this not wait a little longer? I need to find Nancy", he rejected him.

"No, I waited long enough", the boy determined. "She's a menace, and we need to take her out before she strikes!"

Cheren wished there would be classes in manners and patience he could force that kid to take. "What makes you so sure that she's a menace?", he wanted to know. "She's already had much time, and she didn't do any harm. What makes you so sure that she'll strike at all?"

Hugh was taken aback by this question. "Well, she's a member of Team Plasma. Those people can't be trusted. I've seen with my own eyes what they're capable of", he claimed, the memory of what had happened to him and his sister renewing his anger.

"I have seen it as well", the teacher confessed, now getting louder, too. This shut his student up, on the one hand because he had never seen his counterpart so incensed, on the other hand because he had not considered yet that this man he admired for being present during the League incident was a victim as well. "Let me tell you that not all of them have evil intentions. I'm not talking about their 'world-enhancing' aims. Some of them are forced and threatened into follow their leaders' orders, in a few cases even hypnotized." He stopped at this point. It was not pleasant to relive that experience.

Even so, the boy wasn't convinced, and once he regained his composure he was ready to try it with counterarguments. "This girl obviously believes in their ideals, otherwise she wouldn't wear that pendant with her. If she had been hypnotized, the one controlling her wouldn't let her have it to lower the chance she gets busted", he declared.

Cheren shook his head. "I can't befriend with the idea of harming somebody without this person giving us any reason to. Have you thought about how it could end for her if you are wrong?", he stipulated. "I know how it feels to regret wrong decisions, and maybe she is here because she does just that."

Hugh saw that he had to veil his true purpose to achieve it. "That's exactly what I want: finding out if she's going to give us a reason before she actually does, or whether she needs our help", he feigned.

The former master battler hit the wall with his fist annoyed. "When I agree, will you promise to handle this with courtesy and care?" The student nodded eagerly, already having a clear idea of what his courtesy and care would look like. "Fine, then we'll do it tomorrow."

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere on a small island at the borders of Unova, two people who once lived in that region discussed about each other's philosophy:

"I think the younger generation needs to learn how to handle the worldly affairs by itself. Only when they end their conflicts on their own, they can create a world worth living in."

"But don't you believe everyone needs an experienced person who can help to fix the damage when a mistake is made? And mistakes must be made to learn."

"In this, I agree. But mistakes can only teach you when you truly suffer from the consequences. You are the best example. You always learned from mistakes because nobody vouched for you."

"That's not true. He vouched for me. For the first time, I felt like a real human. That's why I'm here now, collecting as many views as possible to learn from all of them. Knowing what other people think makes me adapt the best of their minds, and that makes me human. What makes you human?"

"I always knew I was human. So I always felt like it. I never questioned that fact."

"What if you did? What if I told you that you're not human until you find out what makes you?"

"Well... I think what makes me human are the things that bond me to this world. The people I dealt with, the achievements I made, the objects I bequeathed..."

"Exactly. I don't think you are done with finding the answer when you turn away from the world now. As long as we live, we have the duty to follow our path, even where we create this path on our own. When you turn away from the young generation and leave behind the people you interacted with, the achievements you fought so hard for and all the other stuff that bonds you to this world, you will lose your humanity, similarly to how I lost it when I lost sight of the things that truly are and only followed my own ideals. Both are necessary."

"So you want to say that I have to go back to keep what constitutes me? I left to find out what it is..."

"Somebody has told me that you know best what's important for you when you lose it."

"You really are very wise for your age."

"The wisdom I hold is not mine. It belongs to good people who were willing to share it with me so I could complete it. And now that I'm close to doing so, I need to go back and find him. He, who was the first to vouch for me, will help me to lead those under the guidance of my father back on the right way."

"If it's that what you strive for, I will accompany you on the way back, until our paths part again."


	6. vs. Cresselia - Lack-One's Last Assignment

Whi-Two just looked at him standing in front of his locker from a safe distance as she carefully moved her head around the edge of the hallway to get a good view without being spotted, thinking mistakenly that he hadn't noticed her. As long as she couldn't understand the effect he had on her, she considered it to be smarter to stay away from him. But she needed to know this. She needed to know what all the other girls had talked about the entire day. So she collected all her courage and stepped towards him.  
He was the last one in the corridor, it seemed like he was still searching for something. In reality, he waited to see why she was spying on him and what she would do, but she didn't know or suspect that. "Hey, Lack-Two", she started shy. It was the first time she began a conversation with him herself. He turned towards her smiling, positively surprised as well. "I'd like to ask you something."

"Go ahead", he invited expectantly, curious as to what would be so important to her that she would change her behavioral pattern like this. While he could see through her actions easily, her motives were still a puzzle to him.

Partly, they were to herself as well. If he had asked why she wanted to know this so urgently, she couldn't have answered. Deep down she had an idea why this was important to her, but she was still in denial, and even then she wouldn't have admitted it in front of him. "Well, everyone wants to know what you have to do with Miss Nancy. Could you tell me?", she inquired, her voice diffident and genuine.

Lack-Two had to cogitate about this for a moment. He had agreed with Yancy to tell nobody about it, which was best to keep his own secret, too. But he didn't want to let her down, she needed to be rewarded for her courage to approach him in order to make her do it more often. So he decided to say as much as he could without revealing they had been in a relationship. "I believe I was unintentionally cruel to her when we last met, and I hope I was able to make up for it now", he explained carefully.

"You must have been really rude, looking at how she couldn't even stand being in a room with you", Whi-Two reasoned. Maybe he had treated the idol just like treated her now only to then turn on her like she was always dreading he would.

"I can't justify what I did to her other than it was best for her career. And I'll be sure to not make that mistake again", he said slightly upset, hoping this could ease her wariness. "Let me put it this way: Everyone we deal with leaves some kind of mark in our heart. When this mark gets detached by force, it'll always leave a scar."  
They stayed silent for a moment. When the girl turned to go away without commenting this statement, seeing how she got her answer and had to reflect on it, an idea came up in Lack-Two's mind. "That's why you kept yourself away from all kinds of contact lately, isn't it? Someone left a scar in your heart, and you fear that could happen again."

She ran away from him as fast as possible. For once, he made no attempts to follow her, this reaction told him enough for now. His mind already structured the new information he had gained. In her mind, there was just one thought she could concentrate on: _How can he decipher me like this?_ Her secret was in great danger. The rest of her loyalty, to be honest love, for her Lord N endangered her and her mother. This boy... She feared him for not being able to fear him. She hated him because she liked him. _Could he have the pendant? Could he just play with me? Did he play with Miss Nancy like that?_ He made her paranoid. And in his opinion, she had all rights to be.

* * *

"When this mark gets detached by force, it'll always leave a scar."  
Whi-Two wasn't the only one with such a scar. Next to the one Yancy left in his heart, there was another person fate took away from him. His boss and the Magician were the only ones knowing the full story. Next to a few members of Interpol, nobody even knew he had been having something to do with the young man.

It had been nearly a year ago at that time, Lack-Two had been a high-ranked student at the International police's training center back then. The superintendents already saw him to be capable of accompanying them on their missions. His direct mentor, Lack-One, had shown great interest in his abilities, and used to invite him on all of his assignments. The younger officer gladly helped him out because he liked getting away from purely theoretical tasks and seeing a professional at work.  
On a mission in Unova that first seemed to be a routine job, they were supposed to find the ghosts haunting the landscapes near the newly-found Lentimas Town so that the settlers could continue building the village without interference. "This will be easy", Lack-Two insisted as they closed in on their destination and got a good look of the environment. "There are no such beings as ghosts."

"Ghost type Pokemon are very real, you know?", Lack-One joked, although he knew exactly that this was not what his subordinate meant.

Their helicopter landed near the runway, which had been almost everything the village consisted of in the beginning. The two of them questioned the residents and found out the ghosts had allegedly been seen near an abandoned house at the side of Reversal Mountain. That house had been there before smallholders had decided to settle in this area, whom it had once belonged to, nobody could tell. While Lack-Two still questioned why elite officers of Interpol had to search for most likely imaginary ghosts, the duo reached the building called Strange House by everyone around.

"This district hasn't gotten its own police yet, and since it's important for Unova's economy that the laborers can live and work here, someone needs to do the job", his superior declared once again before entering, and the boy accepted that answer.

Suddenly, as they stepped closer to the entrance, they heard a voice. "The young one is right. You don't need to enter my home", a girl leaning out of the upper window breathed. She looked very pale, and her eyes were wide, they caught with their quick skills of observation. Then, her visibility became blurred before she vanished completely.

Lack-Two frowned. "How can a little girl live in such a hovel?", he wanted to know.

"Maybe she really is a ghost.", Lack-One teased. His friend only shook his head as he preceded to step in. Obviously, the older one didn't believe in her being some supernatural being either, and hurried since that presumably meant she needed help and care desperately.  
The first thing they saw inside were a lot ghost type Pokemon, mostly Litwick and Banette. They laughed boisterously, turned invisible and started to shove furniture around to block their paths. The Pokemon presumably wanted to play with them and let them solve puzzle, but Lack-One had no interest in such frolics and jumped over some big flowerpots to reach the stairs. Though Lack-Two would have accepted the challenge, he didn't intent to lag behind his partner, so he followed. If the ghosts hadn't been unseen, the two would have remarked their disappointed faces.

As they walked up the stairs, the younger one of them spoke up again. "How do you think she does that vanishing?", he wondered out of pure interest.

"I bet my next overtime pay that she's using some technical aids like mirrors", the other responded playfully.

This was doubted by his protege. "I believe it has to be the move of a Pokemon she's using", he took the challenge. The kid had no interest in bets at all, other than his mentor, he had no urge to gamble at all and viewed gambling without clear facts as something that should only be done when absolutely necessary. In this case, he just liked being right.

In the room at the top, the girl waited for them. Now that they saw her from up close, they estimated her to be around the age of six. And she definitely didn't look like a ghost. Not yet... She was holding hands with an old Abra. Her visibility clouded again, and she appeared only two steps away from the officers, showing them her sad expression.  
Nobody had been taking care of her for a long time. "In the dark dream... I heard my dad's voice. I bet him to stay here, but he wanted to get this for me", she whispered. She showed that, in her other hand, she held a glowing feather.

"Isn't that a Lunar Wing?", Lack-Two asked impressed, recalling the item from his studies on rare artifacts from other regions since they were sold for high prices on the black market. The lass nodded slowly. "And she was able to disappear like this because her Abra used Teleport", the officer addressed his superior.

"You win this round", Lack-One admitted dissatisfied, but he was more concentrated on the girl's distress than on his friend's conclusion. "What happened to you? Why are you staying here? And what's your reason for frightening the residents?", he consulted her.

She looked around as if she searched for a ghost. "Nightmares... I always had nightmares. I always have nightmares. He went to the Wonder Bridge to find Cresselia and stole its feather.", she stated.

They listened closely to her story and inferred as much as they could from her few words. "You got the feather from him. What happened to the man who brought it to you?", Lack-Two asked, now showing interest as well.

"The Pokemon... It's not as nice as people think. It took revenge... Now I'm alone", she affirmed. After an uncomfortable break, she continued. "The villagers... I think they fear my Abra. They're bringing food as sacrifices. Please tell them they don't need to do that anymore."

At that, the officers shared a look. She wanted no more food. "No problem, we'll do that for you", Lack-Two reassured to make her feel comfortable.

Still, they knew the girl would die of starvation without this food, even when she didn't seem to understand. "What about you?", Lack-One inquired compassionately.

"It's eating my dreams... It steals my vitality. That's okay... It needs this energy more than I do.", she concluded, not making it clear who 'it' actually was.

From one moment to the next, the girl looked even weaker, just as close to death than her Abra. Lack-Two leaned at the shoulder of his companion and whispered in his ear. "I don't want to sound callous, but I guess those two will die soon if they stay here for much longer. We should leave them peacefully and call doctors here that can take them to a place where they'll recover. Then we can tell the people living nearby they have nothing to fear."

His leader was more than unsatisfied, but he knew the boy at his side was right with his judgment. So they turned to do as he advised.  
Just as they wanted to leave the room, the girl spoke again. "Please... Could you bring this back to the Pokemon he stole it from? I wanted to do it myself, but... I won't make it", she ended the sentence with a quiet voice. Lack-One came back to her, knelt down so his head was at her level and received the Lunar Wing with a distressed face. "Don't feel bad for me", she suddenly exacted. "Where I'm going to be, there are no nightmares... It's better of this way."

There was only one medic in the town, who came to take care of the child as soon as he received word from the agents. Professional doctors from Mistralton City flew in to transport her into a hospital. The change of location seemed to stabilize her condition at first, but after she fell asleep that night, she didn't wake up anymore. Lack-Two heard of how she was trapped in a nightmare a while later, but his research lead him to nothing he could do for her.

* * *

On the day after the girl was brought out of the Strange House, the duo went to the Wonder Bridge. They had told the people in little Lentimas Town that it had only been a few Pokemon who wanted to have fun pranking passerby at the mansion, and that the villagers should stay away from it for a while. Now they wanted to fulfill the last wish of the girl.  
"How high is the chance that the legendary Cresselia actually shows up here today?", Lack-Two questioned.

They had both used the evening before researching in different sources, the older agent had been luckier this time. "It's not as low as you may think. I read that Cresselia is one of the Pokemon that travels around the most. The tourists around believe they saw its shadow here sometimes, so it seems to like this place. And I'm quite sure it wants the feather back", he substantiated.

"So we'll wait here until it appears?", the Trainee repeated. His friend nodded.  
Both of them turned silent for several minutes. Back then, Lack-Two had hated silence. He felt like he had to apologize for his negative attitude about this case. He knew he shouldn't question his superior's view. "Lack-One, I want to apologize for my behavior yesterday", he started. His partner turned towards him surprised, but he didn't say anything. So he went on. "I had a dismissive attitude towards the idea of the rumors being true, I showed little sympathy towards the girl, and I jeopardized the mission with my inappropriate behavior. I'm sorry."

His counterpart laid a hand on his shoulder paternally. "Don't be! I behaved wrong as well. I should have let respectability be my guide, not pity. We both can learn a lot from each other, that's why I enjoy having you around."

These words gave the boy confidence again. He had always gotten validation from his abilities being respected, at least that was what he thought triggered these feelings in him. It wasn't like he would view this from an emotional standpoint. Success was what made him happy, and pleasing his superior was a success. "You mean it?", the boy asked relieved.

"Yeah, I really do", the young man validated. "We're friends, and whatever happens on these missions won't change that." Little did he know the process his words had pushed forward in the adressed's mind.

So they waited. They passed the bridge a few times to be completely aware of their environment, the surrounding people and Pokemon. As they passed the time reviewing other missions waiting to be taken care of, what they awaited happened sooner than expected. Cresselia actually appeared after about an hour. It levitated down from the sky with a gracious but high speed and shot the people on the bridge a grim look. Lack-One noticed this in fractures of seconds and slowly laid the Lunar Wing a few steps in front of him before he backed away. It began to shine as its original owner came close, making it easily visible despite its small size. The Pokemon's face lightened up and the item raised from the ground to take its place at the torso of the psychic type.  
Just then, when the two agents thought this would end without complications, three grunts of the old Team Plasma ran over the bridge fleeing from a person whose Pokemon they had stolen. They overlooked the legendary Pokemon as they turned their head at their pursuer instead and bumped into it. Before they even landed on the ground, it used its psychic powers and threw them over the parapet. Clearly enough, it now thought the feather had been the lure to trap it, and saw an enemy in everyone around.

Lack-Two read its aim out of its impression and acted immediately. "Everyone, leave this place as fast as possible!", he yelled as he called out his Dewott. Lack-One attempted to look after the grunts that had been attacked, though when he saw the deep abyss below the overpass, he knew it was to late to help them. So instead grabbed his Pokeball and released the Machamp inside as well to protect everyone else.

Cresselia landed first, firing its powerful Psyshock at the two opponents. Dewott dodged the purple bullets, but the fighting type was not agile enough. Anyway, it survived the hit. His mentor was the person whom the boy learned from that the own type disadvantage could usually be turned against the opponent, as this was his strategy in this battlee, too. "Strike back with Payback", the man ordered. Machamp lunged out.

Sadly, their foe evaded the hit, but the position it ended in after the movement left the otter a perfect opportunity to start a successful assault. "Use Razor Shell", Lack-Two advised his Pokemon. The attack dealt great damage to the psycho type, and that only angered it more.  
The battle went on, and with every fruitful blow, Cresselia got more infuriated. It had high defensive capabilities, which allowed it to withstand a lot of the moves fired at it. Still, after another hit by Dewott's Aqua Jet, it finally got close to fainting. Out of full rage, it went on to use only the strongest attack in its arsenal, Psychic. The first energy wave hurt the water type, the second knocked the fighting type out, the telepathic power throwing it against its owner and pushing the latter against the balustrade.

Lack-One tripped and fell backwards. As he lost the ground beneath his feet, he reacted quick-wittedly and reached for his grappling iron without finding time to cry out its exact name, firing the hook up to the bridge. It didn't anchor in the railing. Luckily for him, Lack-Two caught it before the rope fell down.  
The older agent found himself in a situation without any way out. Above him was a blustering Cresselia, held back only by Dewott distracting it, beneath him was certain death by impact. "I guess that's the end for me", he deduced with a disappointed voice at the realization of his fate.

"Don't say that!", Lack-Two screamed down to him, trying to pull him up with all his force, but not being able to overcome gravity. He couldn't accept it, he wouldn't accept it.

His friend closed his eyes. He made his decision. "Let go of the rope", he demanded.

"I'm not even thinking about it", the younger officer conflicted. "I think I can get you back up." They both knew it would have taken way to long. Behind him, the water type jumped around and bothered the legendary Pokemon, but it had to get hit sooner or later.

Lack-One shook his head. "Cresselia will attack you before you can do it. That Pokemon needs to be stopped, otherwise it will attack more defenseless passerby. You need to do the right thing now", the older one insisted.

"I won't let you die!", Lack-Two retried panting and gasping. The weigth he was lifting was heavy. It was mainly adrenaline and determination keeping him going. That just had to suffice.

His partner looked down. "I know... That's why I can't leave you a choice." With that, he let go of the rope himself, falling into the deep gorge down to his doom.

His mentee stumbled forwards as the weigth vanished, landing at the railing and staring downwards, left with a shocked expression. He had died. He had really died. As the officer turned around to confront the Pokemon that just killed his partner, his face darkened. Dewott was caught off guard by the death of Lack-One as well. It neglected its defense and was hit by one more Psyshock.  
"Dewott, avenge him with Retaliate", the boy postulated with a voice that didn't sound like his own. His Pokemon wasn't perplexed by this. It sprang directly through the ring Cresselia's projectiles formed and beat it with full force. As the foe was about to faint, Lack-Two threw a Luxury Ball at it. The ball jiggled one time, then a second time, a third time, then it clicked.

This small success came at an incredibly high price for everyone involved. Machamp awoke from it's unconsciousness and looked around for its trainer, only finding his assistant looking down at the parapet dejectedly. Dewott examined its scalchops, finding they had chipped for the first time after so many battles. Maybe some higher-ups would congratulate them for capturing a legendary Pokemon, but what was it worth, after all? The world seemed terribly dark to them at that time.

* * *

A week later, Lack-Two found himself in the office of the Interpol's president. He himself was, for a reason that was not to be interrogated, only present as a hologram projected by an old transceiver. The man praised the Trainee's 'victory' at the Wonder Bridge over and over again, not letting the agent time to argue that this could scarcely be called a victory at all. He had failed to save his mentor, a little girl and three uninvolved people and only got Cresselia to show for it. But the goal of the mission was accomplished, so he learned from the experience that this was everything that counted. After all, Lack-One had said the same, that respectability was more important for this work than pity.  
At the end of the conversation, the chief proclaimed that he found great interest in the boy, and appointed him to a superintendent to fill the deceased's spot. It was the recognition he was working for, it satisfied his craving, it made it seem worth the losses, even when his heart told him it wasn't. His chief told him that it was, and he likely knew better. The success of the mission was what would be rewarded in the end, it was what mattered most, not what happened on the way there. Furthermore, the president already had a new mission for him; to take down the leftovers of Team Plasma by finding a girl hiding the plans for the Colress Device.

Even though the young officer harbored a deep resentment against the organization for multiple reasons now, neither the promotion nor the new assignment cheered him up after the loss, no matter how often his train of thought brought him to the conclusion that they should. He was supposed to reside in Aspertia City, but he knew that, in his current mood, he wouldn't be able to use his charm effectively. He spent weeks in Nimbasa City, trying to brighten up his feelings and prepare himself, but nothing there helped him... Until he met Yancy.

Now there he sat, alone in his room, waiting for his new assistant to return. Looker had reported that he had traveled on the same steamboat the idol used in the morning, but he still didn't show up. Lack-Two worried about his subordinate. He worried he could lose a life again, and that it would throw him off his game enough to lead to the failure of the mission...

In actuality, the missing agent had wanted to arrive at the base, which was the private room of the student, long before. What had stopped him was a boy that seemed to be around the age of his superior accosting him on the street. The kid had known his name and rank at the Interpol. Looker had followed him, as the boy requested, warily of a possible trap. Now, he was sitting in the lab of the Magician. The had boy told him the complete story of Lack-One's last assignment.  
"So that's why the kid is always in such a strange mood", Looker derived after he heard the whole narrative.

"Yes, exactly, if that's what you want to call it", Magician confirmed. "He never really got over it, even though he learned how to pretend. And now that this girl from Team Plasma twists his head, I fear he's pressuring himself too much with what he has to do and what he wants to do. Can you promise me something?"

The dutiful man nodded. "I'll watch out for him!", he assured.


	7. vs. Vibrava - Hugh's Masterplan

"Are you sure this will work? The trap is quite obvious", Cheren reflected nervously. He was sitting on the teacher's chair and sorted his papers for the upcoming lesson for the third time. It still didn't feel like the right thing to expose the member of Team Plasma to him, and with the added fear of their plan failing, he decided it would be better to distract himself as much as possible instead of looking his student in the eyes. He would have seen how full of determination they were.

The first lesson was about to begin, and Hugh had been the very first to arrive at the classroom to tell his teacher what he had to do for the tenth time. "It can't go wrong!", he insisted. "The girl has been careless enough to take the pendant along on the field trip. That means it is of great value to her. She'll want to get it back, even when she is afraid to blow her cover. And I'll be ready to bust her when she does so."

There was no changing his mind. There probably never would be. "If you say so...", the young teacher submitted. He had given up arguing with the impatient student long before, afraid this might signal a failing of him as the kid's teacher. But one thing still bothered him. "Shouldn't we at least keep the data stick you found inside the locket? The information it holds may be very important in the upcoming battle against Neo Team Plasma." The risk of putting the valuable item back inside its container for the potential enemy to take was way too high for him to be comfortable with.

Still, Hugh shook his head. "Our target might look for it inside before she leaves the room. If it's missing, she'll surmise a pitfall", he considered. "We can easily fetch it back after, so we don't lose-" The school bell's ringing disrupted him.

"Go to your seat, otherwise the rest of the students might become suspicious", Cheren prescribed. For once, he followed an order quickly.  
Now the other pupils entered the class. Whi-Two was the first to come in, alone. The others followed, and, as it was usual, Lack-Two and Leo were the last. But this time, they were prompt. They both knew this would be the day Hugh would detect the identity of the spy. According to the secret agent's plan, at least for him...

* * *

Several hours of long waiting later, the bell rang for a last time this day. While the students collected all their books and pencils up, Cheren made another announcement. "Pupils, I found this necklace yesterday. I'm going to leave it on my desk, whoever owns it may take it while going out. I have an important meeting now. Have a nice day, and don't forget your homework." Having said that, he was the first to rush out of the room, followed by Hugh and Lack-Two.  
Outside, Cheren ran to the staff room where Drayden waited for him while the Interpol member took the shortest way to the schoolyard. Hugh's glance followed him warily. But he had to concentrate now. He wouldn't get a second chance. So he opened the locker opposite of the classroom door for which Cheren had given him a key. Inside the thin cupboard was a mirror that allowed him to unobtrusively see the table on which the object of interest had been placed. Using it, he examined every girl coming out of the room, but none of them took the pendant.

Whi-Two still sat at her place. Eventually, she was the last one remaining in the classroom. Her mother had told her not to take it, even if the offer was given. But she needed it badly. It was the only thing that might help her out of her crisis, leastways she thought so. Could it be a trap? _Cheren had left perceptibly quick. He had to be gone by now._ She stood in front of the desk. It was just one grasp...

"I wouldn't do that if I were you", Lack-Two's voice suddenly sounded through the room, just loud enough for her to hear, not for anyone outside. He sat on the windowsill and faced her with an expression that was, on the one hand, amused, just as she was accustomed to it. But on the other hand, it seemed very serious. That somehow scared her, since she had never seen him this way before.

There was no denying that it was hers at this point, though, so she tried to defend herself. "Why wouldn't I take it? It's mine, and there's nothing criminal about having a necklace", the girl asserted. And there was another obvious question as well. "How did you get up here, anyway? This is the third floor!"

The boy grinned. "I got here in the same way you'll get out", he forecast. "I don't know what's thus special about this pendant, but I should warn you that Hugh waits outside to do unspeakable stuff with whoever leaves with it."

Whi-Two's eyes widened. So it truly was a snare. And she would have fallen right into it. But she still didn't want to grant him this success. "I don't need your help", she contended herself. She knew she was wrong with this statement.

Lack-Two knew it as well. "You need my help sorely", he determined.

"Fine, then relieve me", she sighed. "How do you plan to get us out of here?"

He looked out of the window and saw that this corner of the playground was still empty. He smiled at her again. "I won't ask you what about this necklace Hugh appraises to be incriminating if you don't ask me where I got this grappling iron", the secret officer suggested. He didn't have to ask, anyway, so he could only win.

The girl grumbled and accepted his offer begrudgingly. She didn't want to do this, but she realized she had to. And she had to do it quickly, otherwise Hugh might have stormed back in. "If I have to- But I warn you. I'm not good at climbing", she feigned.

"Do you need inducement to make it?", he asked smiling. She gave him an expectant look. "I'll catch you if you fall." With this promise, he attached the high-wire to the ledge and lowered down at the rope. She looked around in the room again and finally overcame her hesitations. But before leaving, she closed the door, careful to not be seen from outside, and pocketed her pendant. Then she followed him on his unconventional way out.

Hugh lost all his remaining patience when the door was closed on him, he immediately plunged into the classroom. The only person whom he hadn't seen leaving yet was Whi-Two. It had to be her. He wanted to confront her now. Just as he looked around, he found the room empty. The pendant was gone, just like her. He screamed exasperated. And then he observed the tips of two hair-buns in the window, shortly before they vanished downward.

Lack-Two had already reached the ground while Whi-Two still struggled to get to the point from where a tumble wouldn't break her bones anymore. In her time as a Team Plasma Grunt, the girl's skills at climbing had been satisfactory, but she was out of practice by now. As one could have expected, she tripped. And as one could have expected, he caught her.  
She had her eyes closed when she landed in his arms, waiting for the impact that never came. "Are you alright?", the boy inquired caring.

The girl comprehended what had happened and blushed awkwardly. But other than in the Pokestar Studios, she didn't detach from him as soon as she could, which he happily took notice of while her head filled with too many thoughts to truly realize it. "I guess so", she avouched lightly. So he enjoyed the moment, until she ultimately felt scrupulously. "Could you let me down now?", she requested.

"Of course", Lack-Two complied with his cavalier voice. "It's always a pleasure to save you." As he carefully did as she wished, he inconspicuously seized into her pocket and took out the necklace. She didn't notice. They saw off from each other quickly to not be seen and went towards their private chambers. He eyed up the pendant with the icon of Team Plasma on it as soon as she was out of sight. The data stick was still inside. Now he had everything he needed. And she had played right into his hands. After all, he was Lack-Two, and she should have known better.

* * *

Cheren sat down at the table in the teacher's room. Next to him were Drayden, Roxie, Burgh, Cedric Juniper and Brycen. Bianca's chair was empty. White hadn't managed to get the afternoon vacant as well. And Marlon had just turned down the invitation.

"Thank you all for making the time. We all know why we're here. We need to terminate the menace Neo Team Plasma has become", the gym leader of Icirrus City initiated the discussion.

"We should have met way earlier", Drayden declared. "My city is buried beneath indestructible icecaps. We have to assume Team Plasma is already able to use the power of the third legendary dragon, Kyurem. Despite our intense search for it, they found it faster than we could." Seeing how everyone followed his explanation, he went on. "As far as we know, our enemies are still controlling the Forces of Nature, with which they defeated us the last time we fought them. We will need as much support as we can get to fight these as well as Kyurem. Where are Elesa, Clay and Skyla?"

It was Burgh who knew the answer to that: "Hmmm... I heard from Clay that they are already working with the International Police to seek out Neo Team Plasma's hideout. I assume they are using Skyla's plane for aerial surveillance and the contacts from Clay's business and Elesa's celebrity circle to hear any rumors first." As he looked around in the room, the others nodded approvingly.

The older of Unova's two professors spoke up next. "That's very helpful, in this case we need to be prepared once they find what they're looking for. Drayden, can we count on the assistance of our new champion as well?"

"Yes, Iris is currently training at the league with Benga to be ready for our next battle", the addressed answered. "Not being able to defeat the Shadow Triad in time left a dent in her confidence, but her strength is growing exponentially, and she is only more determined to beat them at the next opportunity. Of course, it would be advantageous if we could rely on Alder as well, but we still don't know where he is currently, and we haven't heard of him either."

Roxie shook her head uninterested. „That doesn't matter. The old man wanted to leave the field to the youth, right? You have Iris, Benga, Cheren and me now. We can still take them down if we manage to confront them while their dragon is in a bad position to attack us directly", she ascertained.

After a short knocking on the door, a man in a brown trench coat with a strange nose, a large mustache and even larger glasses entered the room. He scanned the atmosphere for a second and then pulled a cleaning trolley in behind him. "Don't mind me, I'll just quickly mop up this room and then be gone again", he excused the disturbance and closed the door again.

"This is kind of confidential", Brycen uttered displeased by the unknown intruder.

The teacher wasn't exactly happy about his presence as well. "I feel like I know you from somewhere...", he pondered, looking at the putative caretaker and trying to remember him but once again stumbling over the large gap in his memory.

Starting to get uncomfortable with the attention he now had on him, the man usually going by the name Lou Karr made a shrugging gesture. "It's likely you've seen me in passing while I was doing my job here", was his reasoning. Luckily for him, most people in the room seemed to buy it.

Cheren sighed. „ Anyway, I agree with what Roxie said. We need a plan to attack while Kyurem isn't at full power, and then think of a way to beat the Forces of Nature. But that's not as easy as it sounds. I might have found some information that can tell us how they are controlling these Pokemon, even when it's just speculation at this point. Another option would be to call for the help of another legendary dragon to make it an evenly matched battle. But N is still nowhere to be found, and Black..."

Cedric knew Cheren wouldn't be able to end the sentence, so he did it instead. "Black was captured with Reshiram inside the Light Stone. Even though Miss White is currently working at freeing him, there aren't any noteworthy results yet. She is using her work at BW Agency to find somebody that can be a hero of truth like Black was, we suspect Reshiram will open up to that person like it opened up for him. If anyone of you knows a person that could fit the criteria, please don't hesitate to bring them up." His suggestion was met with silence, disrupted only by the awkward noise of Lou Karr whiping the floor.

To keep the conversation going, Cheren mentioned the only thing he came up with: "Since history shows truth and ideals are especially strong with young people, I could ask some of my students at this school whether they want to try it, but we might still be searching the needle in a haystick."

"Then we'll have to fall back on Roxie's idea instead", Brycen inferred a little frustrated. "So it's best if we-" Suddenly, he was disrupted by a loud rumbling sound coming from one of the school corridors.

"Why do I know who's responsible for this?", the teacher moaned as he ran out of the room while the others looked after him confused. The officer in disguise was the only one who eventually chose to follow him, afraid what was going on could have something to do with his superior or their target.

* * *

"You idiot! What were you thinking? You ruined everything", Hugh yelled as he spotted Lack-Two in the hallway on the first floor.

The boy looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea what you're talking about", he shamed convincingly enough. Originally he had wanted to bring the important data stick to his dorm as quickly as possible, though he had already expected that a confrontation on the way there was hard to avoid.

The avenger only grew more angry at his words, if that was even possible. "I don't fall for your lies anymore. I saw you with her through the window. What you seemingly have no idea of is what impends you now", he tried to threaten him. Of course that didn't work.

"I don't see a crime in my actions", Lack-Two reassured. So Whi-Two had somehow drawn his attention to herself before she could get away, and he had been seen. That complicated denying it.

Hugh knocked his elbow against the lockers next to him. "If I could have proven that she has taken the pendant and went out with it, I would have been able to reveal she's a member of Team Plasma. You assisted a criminal, and that makes you one yourself." The conviction in his words was evident.

The secret agent just faked a laugh. "You think she's a spy of Team Plasma?", he repeated, making it sound ridiculous.

His counterpart's eyes widened as another thought turned up in his head. "You knew", he accused the visor-wearing boy. "And you expected me to bust her, that's why you helped her out."

Now, some other students gathered around them. They had heard a loud voice and expected a great show from the school's two most skilled combatants, even though they hadn't caught what the argument was about. "Show that bully you're stronger than him, Lack-Two!", Yuuko, Mayu and Yuki cheered him on in unison.

Nonetheless, Lack-Two saw no benefit in contradicting the boy's accusations anymore. "Hugh, as long as she doesn't do any harm to the other pupils, Whi-Two savors my personal protection", he determined.

"Why would you protect her?", the Quilfish-head asked impious. "This is not about your flirting. In the end, you'll be the first one she steals the Pokemon of."

"It doesn't matter what you make this about. She won't do any harm, and neither will you. If you want anything from her, you'll have to get past me", the young man repeated.

Hugh growled. "Then I'll get past you, you'll see. Come on, Vibrava."

As he called out his Pokemon, Leo ran between the two. "Guys, please don't fight because of her. You'll get into serious trouble!", he warned worried.

But it had no avail. His other friend took out his Pokeball as well and released Samurott. "You should get out of the way, Leo. The trouble can't be avoided any longer." The onlookers around backed away so missing attacks wouldn't imperil them. Unwillingly, the kid in his dragon costume budged out of the way as well. "The first move is yours", Lack-Two invited once they had enough space.

He didn't need to say that twice. "Vibrava, use Sonic Boom!", Hugh yelled his first command. His voice was almost as loud as the assault of his Pokemon, but both noises only really impressed the audience, not the water type, it had too many HP by now.

"Is that all you've got?", the officer gave a yawn. "Samurott, strike with Ice Beam." His Pokemon fired off said attack. The ground type knew of the immense damage this super effective move could deal, and it gave its best to evade it. But as it flew from wall to wall, suddenly a water dispenser frozen by the beam instead fell down on it and pushed it against the ground. With a lot of effort, the Pokemon managed to lift the heavy object and crawled forth while its foe stopped the onslaught and watched it calmly. "You're no match, Hugh. You should surrender before your Vibrava gets grievously injured", the water type's trainer advised.

"What's going on here?", Cheren's voice abruptly echoed through the corridor.

"Fast, Vibrava, block the way with Rock Tomb", Hugh ordered. The attack cut the fighters off from the others, making sure the battle wouldn't be interrupted as Cheren couldn't get through to them. "Let's finish this. Use Dig."  
The little dragon broke through the marble floor and positioned itself beneath its opponent. But as it wanted to punch the belly of the starter Pokemon from beneath, the latter rolled to the left side and dodged the assault. To avoid being hit, Vibrava quickly returned into its tunnels.

Lack-Two shook his head. His adversary had the power and strategy needed, only an eye for the own weak points was missing. "Fill the tunnel with Hydro Pump", he disposed his Pokemon.

"No, Vibrava, get out of there!", Hugh screamed, realizing the danger, but it was too late. The powerful water jet filled the underground passage and pressed the ground type out and against the hallway's ceiling. It was close to fainting, but it still stood up.

"Give it up, Hugh", Lack-Two tried again. "You can't win this. I don't want to hurt your Pokemon further." It was not really hesitation to engage the foe with full force, he would have done that if it had been necessary, and it wasn't disparagement of the dragon type either. His practical mind mainly saw no reason to further waste both their time and their Pokemon's energy.

The boy clenched his fists, but he eventually grabbed his Pokeball and called back Vibrava. As much as he hated to admit it, he was realistic enough to know it was true. He could not win. Then, he fell down on his knees. "I can't lose. I need to take down Team Plasma. Purrloin needs to be found. I mustn't fail now, not against you!", he bewailed.

The secret agent walked towards him and placed his hand on Hugh's shoulder, just as Lack-One used to do it for him. After all, Hugh was a good battler and an enemy of Team Plasma, so they were on the same side, even when he didn't see it. "Just because you couldn't win now, that does not mean you can't win at all. You can fight Neo Team Plasma", he tried to cheer him up. "You're just searching at the wrong place." Even though the tall young man still showed him a look of abhorrence, he didn't fight his grip. As he made no attempt to answer, Lack-Two had to ask. "Why do you hate that organization so much?"

The boy looked up at he flirt he had always loathed thus strongly. For some reason, he seriously seemed to care. "They stole my sister's Purrloin. Five years ago", the words suddenly fizzed out of his mouth. "It's partly my fault, I couldn't stop these grunts, that's why I need to get stronger, so I can get it back. I..."

A loud slam and the following sound of breaking rocks coming from the obstacle created by Vibrava disrupted him. Cheren's Stoutland had crashed them with a Giga Impact. "What happened here? Who is responsible for this mess?", the young inquired, giving his two students a very stern look while his Pokemon was recovering. Somewhere behind them with a safe distance, near a window to the battlegrounds outside, Looker had positioned himself to see what happened. The other pupils appeared to have already fled the scene, with the exception of Leo who was standing behind his teacher appearing very worried.

Hugh's face turned pale. He had been blind for the consequences, despite Leo's warning. Cheren wouldn't be on his side considering the damage he had done to the school inventory without getting anything for it, he hadn't even pulled off their plan successfully. Just as he tried to stutter an excuse or an explanation that would have probably only made his situation worse, his spoke up. "It was my fault, Mr Cheren. I am the only one to blame for this incident", he shouldered the fault with a confident voice.

Their supervisor reacted surprised. "Is that true?", he wanted to know from Hugh. The latter didn't know what to say. As the secret agent shot him a sharp look, he nodded slowly. "Well, I'm sorry, Lack-Two, but in this case I'll have to suspend you from school permanently", the teacher announced, uncomfortable with having to make such a decision, especially concerning one of his best students. Still, looking at how many rules had been broken here, from illegal battling to property damage, he had little doubt that this was the logical consequence.

The two troublemaker's friend jumped in. "Wait, please, Mr Cheren, there has to be a mistake! Don't do this, you have to reconsider, isn't this punishment too hard?" But his help was unnecessary.

"That's okay, I understand it", the secret agent agreed. Everything went according to his plan, as usual. "My legal guardian will pay for the damage. I won't bother you anymore." Cheren shrugged, surprised by the compliance. As the kid turned to leave in the direction of his dorm, he considered the decision made and looked forward to a lot of awful paperwork.

Finally regaining his composure, Hugh rushed after the person who had just offered himself as a scapegoat and held him back. "You didn't have to do this", he observed.

The addressed boy smiled. "I owed you this much for interfering with your plan. Just do me a favor when I'm gone", he requested. His counterpart's eyes widened as he agreed with a short but explicit gesture. "Promise me not to pursue Whi-Two further. Hunting former grunts won't help you, and hunting her won't lead to anything at all." He went towards his room to pack his stuff up, leaving the young man alone with a lot to think about.

Meanwhile, the new gym leader's glance met the man with the fake mustache. "You're the caretaker here, right?", he asked, pointing his finger at the mess the two Pokemon had made.

"Uhh, I have to finish the staff room first", Looker quickly excused himself. As fast as he could, he escaped through the window, leaving a fully perplexed Cheren behind.

* * *

Zinzolin knelt down in front of a dark figure clothed in a thick black coat that leaned on a silver cane. "My lord, our performance in Opelucid City went off exactly as we planned", he reported. "The city is completely frozen, it was more frigid than in the Cold Storage there. The citizens are panicking, and nobody has found a way to break the ice." The person opposite to him kept quiet.  
"But sadly, Colress still hasn't been able to get rid of the agents the International Police has sent to thwart our plans." Still no response. "I suggest you penalize him. Or you let me do this in your place." His counterpart growled, but he stayed silent apart from that.

Now the _Dark Scientist_ entered the hall himself. "I think you missed a meeting, Zinzolin", he sighed. "I never intended to get rid of them. In fact, they're our cat's-paws. I attacked them to make them believe they're bothering us."

"Well, they are bothering us", the sage conflicted. "They captured our secret weapon, Genesect, defeated Volcarona and buried it in the ruins, destroyed all our pickets in the south of Unova and infiltrated our frigate."

"Those are all insignificant losses compared to the successes we'll achieve very soon", Colress anticipated. "The boy will lead us to the only thing that can threaten us, now that we have Kyurem under our control. The girl that holds the stolen blueprints for my device."

That didn't sound good to the lower-ranking member. "You can't be serious!", Zinzolin ranted. "You want to tell me that you planned to use that child for our advantage all along? You just made this up to eschew a punishment."

Now the figure finally opened its mouth. "No, Zinzolin, my friend and I developed this plan together, shortly after our failure at the league", a rough voice said.

Zinzolin's face turned even more white. "My lord, these agents are a menace to our plans! We can't play with them like they're our tools. I'm the one who found Kyurem for you, I deserve to be listened to! We have to..."

"Stop whining just because you were outdone by them. So what if they could defeat you, that doesn't mean they're a threat", the man in the shadows hissed. "The wonderful era in which I am the absolute ruler of Unova is about to arrive. You're dismissed, and make sure not to doubt my assessments ever again. I don't have to view you as a traitor like your brother Rood, do I?" The insulted member of the seven sages hurried out of the chamber without another word. His hard work was not being respected, his lord rather listened to the scientist who wasn't even interested in the ambitions of Team Plasma. But the old man knew he was right, and in the end he would be the one to defeat their enemies and become their leader's right hand, it was only a matter of time.

Colress waited until he was gone, then he had to ask. "But what should we do after their task is fulfilled? What if they make it to this place before we're done?"

The figure removed his hood. "Then I'll end them myself", Ghetsis announced.


	8. vs. Landorus - The Test For Keldeo

It had trained. It had trained for years. It had trained hard and without notable breaks. Finally, the day had come Keldeo would free its mentors, at least it hoped so.

Two years had passed since they chose to support the gym leaders of Striaton City in their fight against the Shadow Triad. The evil figures had wanted revenge after their Pokemon lost to Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion, so they released a bug in a strange armor. It had overtaken them and captured his mentors in ice blocks that sank to the bottom of the sea.  
Keldeo had tried to destroy their prisons by hitting them with its Sacred Sword. But the attack Genesect had used was too strong. So it had to get stronger, too. At first, it had wanted to improve its technique, but even a critical hit didn't even leave a scratch in the ice. As it was about to give up, a thought had occurred in its mind: There was another attack it could use, another Sword it could master. Cobalion had evinced that shortly before they ran into the fateful battle.

Having trained in the southwest of Unova with different Pokemon who offered themselves to fight it and humans who weren't quite as willing, now it had finally been able to perfect the Secret Sword. There was one final test to be performed. Keldeo had travelled to the Pledge Grove and stepped in front of the rock only three Pokemon had been able to damage before. After the latest slash had been carved into it, every Pokemon around attempted to leave a mark as well. They pitifully failed.

"I only have one last chance to free them. This has to work", it said to itself. It got into position, lunged out and executed the required movements. In the end, it was able to shoot a sharp wave of energy on the rock. The wave didn't leave a mark when it collided. Instead, it made the symbol of the unity and strength of the _Swords of Justice_ burst.  
Keldeo cheered loudly. "Finally! Now I can do it!"

When it flew away, it didn't notice the boy who had hidden between the trees to watch the scene. While he was waiting for the time until his convoked meeting with Looker and the Magician to pass, he had come back to the area to get a look at the Pokemon whom he had encountered on his trip with Whi-Two. "So that's the power you attacked us with. Did you just go after us because you wanted to train?", he wondered, raising his fingers to his lips thinking about how he could make it his ally. "You seem to not think highly of humans, but your strength could be valuable in the fight against Neo Team Plasma. Surely they would be your enemy as well..."

* * *

The journey towards the place humans called the P2 Laboratory took Keldeo longer than it had expected. It was a large part of the sea the water type had to pass. When it reached the spot from where it could see the small island, it dived and looked for the exact place.

Two Team Plasma grunts were still working inside the lab trying to build new drives for Project Genesect. They had been told about the battle that had once taken place here and were warned that the last of the four legendary Pokemon might one day return for its friends. When they had already submitted to the thought that it was just a fable and they would never actually spot it, suddenly they saw it submerging. They immediately ran back into the building and sent a message.

Here Keldeo's type finally paid of, since it didn't need air while searching underwater. It ultimately got to the point where the disaster had taken place. The pain of seeing its three teachers locked in ice hurt it all over again. Before it could bring up the power to free them, it needed a moment to recollect. "Don't worry, I'll get you out now", it promised, and got its sword ready. It took a swing, ready to break through the icem but before it could launch the assault, it got hit by stones rising out of the ground and pressing it upwards to the surface.

Colress eyed Keldeo satisfied as it got pushed out of his element by the rocks. His Landorus had used Stone Edge to prevent it from breaking the ice. The _Dark Scientist_ stood on his Klinklang, which levitated directly above the ground of the island's beach where his Beheeyem had teleported him. "I had to wait for you a long time", he whispered. „You'll be the next legendary Pokemon to join our course of achieving unlimited potential. Your powers will prove useful indeed, yet you could do so much more with some training. Let me help you with that. Landorus, use Fly." The legendary ground type flew up to the clouds just as Keldeo reached the water surface. So the latter couldn't find the one who attacked it once it understood what had happened.

The water type only saw the scientist dressed in a black suit. "That man assailed me? He must know what I was about to do. Surely he is allied with the enemies of my masters", it thought, and stormed towards him combatively, identifying him as the source of evil. But right then its opponent crashed down from the sky and dealt great damage with the direct onslaught. Its target was blown against the surface again, floating on it instead of sinking.

Colress pressed a few buttons on his device and aimed it at Keldeo. In the last moment, it noticed the scientist's weapon and evaded the beam that would have made it his servant.

Seeing it had to defeat the man and his Pokemon before it could do what it came here for, the fourth member _Swords of Justice_ raced over the water towards them and stored some of it in his mouth, warming it up and spitting it on at them. The Scald was supposed to affect Colress, but Landorus intercepted it. That was not a misstep, because it had not only a weakness against water type attacks, it also got burned by the hot fluid. Now it had a good opportunity to look at the opposing ground type, a muscular, orange Pokemon with a humanoid appearance, sitting on a cloud fitting its size and having red speckles all over its body. Such a Pokemon was unknown to Keldeo, and it seemed stronger than all the others it had seen on its journeys.

The Frillish around grew interested in the clash of the legendary Pokemon and rooted for Pokemon which represented their type. When all the Pokemon gathered, it also caught the attention of a man swimming in the territory of Route 17.

Regrettably, by cheering about its own successful hit, Keldeo neglected its defense and got hit by a Bulldoze of the foe. Only thanks to Landorus' status condition, the damage decreased drastically.  
Colress determined there was no use in fighting this way any further, since his Pokemon lost more HP than it took from the opponent due to the type disadvantage. He hadn't put so much effort into finding the Reveal Glass only for his _Force of Nature_ to lose in the first fight. "This time it'll work", he anticipated, fishing a mirror out of his bag and reflecting the sunlight with it. The gleam touched the Pokemon they called the lord of harvest, and shrouded in glowing light, it turned into the form of its animal spirit. It now looked like a feline with lion-like features and small cloud formations around its claws. Additionally, he tested another button at the remote control and thereby healed the burn.

The mostly cured Landorus dodged Keldeo's following attacks with Icy Wind, which would have been very effective, and struck it again with Bulldoze, this time dealing more damage. "Finish it with Stone Edge", the _Dark Scientist_ ordered. The water type evaded the first and the second load of rocks that raised from the seabed, but it knew it couldn't do that forever. It didn't want to experience the new-gained power of the ground type up close. But maybe it could use this strength to its own advantage, it considered as a new idea came up in its mind.

Keldeo rushed towards the place where its mentors had been buried while evading more assaults, stopped and waited for the approaching stonewalls behind it to catch up. "This will hurt", it awaited unhappily and closed its eyes, shortly before the onslaught slashed it. However, the stones shot out of the ground and simultaneously carved the ice that was down there, eventually making it break.

Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion awakened from their stiffness. Being unable to breath underwater, they emerged as fast as they could, gasping for air. If Keldeo hadn't been close to unconsciousness after the blow, it would have cheered again, but in its current state it just looked over at Colress confidently. It was sure that this man would stand no chance against its masters' combined force, just like the Shadow Triad had not stood a chance. To its surprise, the foe grinned. "Oh, what a wonderful twist of fate!", he rejoiced and pointed his device at the three legendaries. They were still recovering and couldn't react quickly enough when he fired thin red beams at them. Suddenly, they didn't seem thus exhausted. And now, they directed their Swords at Keldeo.

The water type evaded the assaults of his mentors curtly, which turned out to be very hard since it was particularly weakened from its previos battle. And just as it thought it had made it, Landorus crashed down from the sky once more to hit it with another Fly-attack. Keldeo fainted and sank to the bottom of the sea unconscious, which made Colress fold his hands satisfied. "Get it back up here, then the group is complete. But be careful not to draw the attention of the local Pokemon on us, we have no time to fight them all", he instructed the Pokemon. Virizion and Cobalion dived again, while the other two stayed behind because of their frailty against water.

Unfortunately for the scientist, the Frillish had already caught on them. They swam towards the fallen knight before his cat's-paws reached it and made it gulp a Revive they found near another island around. It instantly woke up and scurried away from what used to be its friends.  
Keldeo hid behind a cliff so they wouldn't find it before they had to leave the water for air and lose it. One of the Frillish followed as soon as they were out of danger. "You can't just hide here", it appealed. "This evil man will use your friends to hurt more Pokemon." They had seen him experimenting on Genesect here before, and they knew how much this had hurt the bug, just as the Pokemon under his control would be hurt right then.

"It's not like I could stop him. I can't defeat them all, most likely not even separated", the fighting type replied, disappointed of itself. It had failed at breaking the ice itself, and it had failed at defeating Landorus, everything it had done only made things worse in the end.

The counterpart took a moment to ponder about all scopes before it formed a plan. "You need to destroy the machine that controls them, then they will all turn against him. We'll give you backing while you free your friends. And then we can put the evil man in his place", it explicated.

That was what they tried seconds later. Keldeo knew it had to fix the mess it created and free its teachers once more, and that this was the best chance it had. Thus, it stormed out of its hideout and dropped around the two Pokemon that were still searching for it. They wanted to follow, but all of a sudden, Virizion was surrounded by Frillish that held them off with forming a giant Omnious Wind underwater that pressed them to the ground.  
Keldeo popped up at the surface and hit Landorus and Terrakion with further Scalds from behind, burning both of them. Fate was on its side in this duel, it appreciated. With the djinn and the rock type incapacitated, only Cobalion, the one it respected the most, was left standing in its way as it arose from the sea between its protege and the scientist. They both used their Sacred Sword and locked blades. It reminded the water type of the first time it happened.

* * *

Keldeo had sat in the woods of Route 6 and looked complacently at the line of resident Pokemon that brought food for it after it had threatened them with its superior strength.  
The last one in the line was a small Foongus. "I'm sorry, Sir. I wasn't able to find...", it whispered uneasy.

The fighting type stood up angered and directed its Sword at the mushroom Pokemon. "You dare to belie me?", it asked alarming.

From a cliff, three Pokemon looked at the scene incredulous. "Is that who I think it is?", the rock type inquired.

"I'll rebuke this unthankful thug", Cobalion decided. It jumped down and locked blades with Keldeo just as it wanted to strike, preventing it from slashing the Foongus. The rookie tried to hold against the attacker, but it stood no chance. The steel type shoved it back and made it trip and fall to the ground. When the Foongus realized what happened, it hopped away as fast as it could.

Keldeo's eyes widened when it looked at the new opponent. "How are you so strong? And where do I know you from?", it cogitated.

"You better remember!", Cobalion avouched. "So this is what you made out of the life we saved."

"What, you saved my life?", the water type repeated unbelieving. Suddenly, an image of a burning city came up in its mind. It saw itself, not long after it had hatched from its egg. And it saw three Pokemon that stopped buildings from crashing down on it and carried it out of the danger area. As its mind returned to the present, it immediately bowed in front of the _Swords of Justice_. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea! I beg for forgiveness."

Cobalion held its Sword at the water type's throat. It remained in this position for a few moments, then it stepped back. "We're no monsters. But we expect you to stop behaving like one", it demanded.

"Of course", Keldeo was quick to agree. The three turned to leave, but it stopped them in their tracks. "Wait, I wanted to ask..." They gave it partly surprised, partly expectant looks. "I want to be as strong as you are. I want you to teach me that Sword technique you used", it finally surmounted itself to say.

Cobalion eyed it severely. "You've proven to be unworthy of our doctrine", it just answered and turned away again.

"But this youngster surely is capable of learning our techniques", Terrakion argued.

Virizion nodded. "And it might be our only chance to transmit our legacy", it considered.

"It's just an unappreciative sprog. Didn't you see what it was just about to do?", the steel type growled incensed.

"But I can change! Only you can help me find my way", Keldeo begged.

Cobalion exchanged knowing looks with its partners and then turned towards the kid, beholding its hopeful eyes. "If we teach you, the first thing you'll have to learn are manners. And we won't approve further missteps", it determined with a stern voice, still a little skeptical.

Keldeo bowed its head. "Yes, Sir. I submit to your doctrine."

* * *

The water type had become a lot stronger now, but Cobalion was still stronger, slowly pushing it back. With all the power the student had collected, it still couldn't compete.

Behind it, Landorus and Terrakion recovered from the super effective hits and burn damage and got ready to join the fight again. "We should be able to finish it this time", Colress said as he sat up his device for another use. "Beheeyem, could you please hold the rebel in place with Psychic?"

The psychic type prepared to untilize its move for this purpose, only when it got into the position to do so, it was suddenly affected by a Hex-attack of a Jellicent. Next to the large ghost swimming in the water was its trainer Marlon. "Hey, I recognize that Pokemon. We fought before at the League Tournament, right? You bested me back then, I believe, I'd really be up for a rematch right now", he challenged cheerfully.

"Huh, don't you see I'm kind of busy right now?", the trainer formerly known as Hood Man questioned as he saw who had interrupted his fight.

Keldeo wasn't happy about his involvement either. It remembered the outcome of the last time when it had battled alongside humans, and it didn't want something similar to happen this time, despite the mess it had already gotten itself into after fighting on its own. "Stay out of this", it wanted to convey with a loud growl.

Marlon didn't mind that it was uncooperative, he had already made up his mind. "You could be up to no good for reals, and... It's not my style to go around decidin' your Team Plasma's bad without thinkin' 'bout it just 'cause everyone says so. But, eh, this Pokemon is havin' trouble, so I've got to help out. That's what I want to do!" His Jellicent used Hex again, this time afflicting Landorus and Terrakion. Since the Scald had imposed a status condition on them, the ghost type attack's power doubled, stopping them from holding back the horse any longer.

Hearing his words, said Pokemon was taken aback by his genuine desire to help those in need, even when the swimmer had no personal reason to interfere. Maybe in the end, it wasn't always a mistake to side with humans, there were just as many good ones among them as there seemed to be villains. This gave it new strength, which it applied by using Sacred Sword against Cobalion once more.  
Again, its attack clashed with that of its mentor. Again, it was pushed back. However, this time Keldeo had expected to be overpowered, using the right moment to roll to the side, escaping the aggression of its teacher in the progress and creating a free firing path on the villain. It fired its special move Secret Sword at the man controlling its opponents. Cobalion turned around and tried to strike it from behind as fast as it could, but before it could slam the final blow, the energy wave reached Colress and wrecked his device.

The four legendary Pokemon snapped out of their trance and turned towards their common foe. "I guess its time to leave", the scientist detected as he saw how the tables turned on him. His Beheeyem floated back towards him and together they vanished by using Teleport. Acute rocks, sharp leaves and bright energy balls hit the spot where he had been fractures of seconds before.

Colress appeared back in the fulcrum of Neo Team Plasma. As he regarded his broken machine, a smile widened on his face. "That's why it won't work..."

Now that it was free for the first time after years, Landorus flew away to search for a landmark it knew to orientate. Benson watched it and the other four leave satisfied. "I suppose my work here is done, I'm glad I was able to help. Hey, be careful out there!", he shouted after them and then went back to swimming with his Pokemon.

Meanwhile the _Swords of Justice_ celebrated their reunion. "It's good to see you stood up against all dangers the humans deployed against us", Cobalion praised their youngest member after they had returned to the mainland.

"My inducement was only to save you, just like you saved me", Keldeo conceded, happy that it had fulfilled its mission and returned the favor at last.

"We teached you well.", Virizion deduced smiling.

Terrakion was the only one who wasn't satisfied by how the situation ended. "What are we going to do about these humans who jailed and exploited us? The tree guys from earlier and this man who just disappeared?", it wanted to know.

"There won't be any further interference from our side. The humans have to solve their problems on their own", Cobalion stipulated. "My decision is conclusive and not to be discussed. If we tried to sustain them any further, they'd just want to make us their tools and use us for their misdeeds again." With that, it set off on its way to their primary shelter before anyone could argue. The others weren't content with their friend's judgement, still they accepted it for the time being and followed.

* * *

The steel type shoved it back and made it trip and fall to the ground. When the Foongus realized what happened, it hopped away as fast as it could.  
Eventually, it made it to the path the humans had flattened to facilitate their journeys. There, it accidentally collided with an old man in a brown robe who had a white beard and a tall hat. "Hey there, little friend", he greeted the Pokemon. When Rood knelt down, he noticed the wound of the grass type. "Who did this to you?", he asked as he gingerly picked it up and placed it on his shoulder. "I'm sure it were some cruel trainers. How about I bring you to a place where we can heal your injuries?"


	9. vs. Eelektross - A Date

"Very well done, superintendent Lack-Two. Now that you recovered the data stick for us, our scientists can find a way to counteract the Colress Device", the boss of the International Police praised the boy. The latter had called him with the Interpol's special communication device, sitting in the Magician's lab next to Looker, with the premises' owner standing a little distant from them so he would not be seen in the video call. Still he was paying close attention. While the man on the other end of the phone line was able to see Lack-Two's image on the screen, the picture the agents saw was excessively warped. He said it had been distorted to conceal his appearance to outsiders. The superintendent didn't believe that.  
Despite his doubts, he was patiently waiting for the new instructions that were about to be given to him. He had convened the meeting with his assistants to discuss their further proceedings after his latest success. "You'll be picked up tomorrow morning by a plain in the forest near Floccesy Town. Be sure to have all your stuff packed together until then. Enjoy your last day in Aspertia."

"Yes, Sir", Lack-Two agreed. "I have already taken care of my extraction from the Trainer School myself, I will have no problem being at the meeting point in time tomorrow." As the video chat ended, he looked at the expression of his direct subordinate, who had sat next to him listening quietly. It was still early on Saturday morning. That day, the Cultural Festival would be celebrated in the city, and he had plotted most moves for his last day there already.

After having put the communication device back in his bag, he took out the data stick he had found inside Whi-Two's locket. "Wait, you said you had sent it to headquarters already, didn't you?", Looker wondered.

His superior had observed his reaction carefully. It was not as shocked as he had expected it to be. "A copy I prepared for that purpose", he simply explained, before turning to his manager. "You know what to do with this?"

The addressed nodded quickly. "I'm going to do my best to be done by tomorrow, although I can't promise to have the solution ready before your flight goes off, so if you have left already by that time, I will send it after you the usual way", his confirmation satisfied the client. Once he received the stick, he immediately plugged it into his computer and sat down in front of it. For the moment though, he swivelled his chair to face his guests until the meeting was finished.

"What are we going to do about the girl whom you got the stick from?", the oldest in the room wanted to know. "She is proven to be a member of Team Plasma."

His superintendent couldn't hide that he did not like the topic, but as always he stayed perfectly calm. "She has not commited any crime herself, and it's a waste of our time to go after her and penalize her just for membership. Our main targets are Colress and Ghetsis, not school girls", was his flawless reasoning.

Looker gave in swiftly. "Yes, that's true. Lack-One really did train you to make wise decisions at your young age." It was meant as a compliment, but he realized he had not thought about the implications of his words enough when he abruptly felt Samurott's extended blade beneath his chin.

The child's face darkened as he looked into the other agent's eyes. "How do you know about that?", he demanded to be told, having a clear suspicion in his mind whom the man could be in league with.

"Calm down, Lack", Magician attempted to appease his friend. "I'm the one who told him." That revelation caught his attention. He looked at the technician beneath the top-hat expectantly while his Pokemon still threatened the man who slowly started to sweat in his position trying to stay as calm as he possibly could. "Because I trusted him."

There was a short silence in which the leader of the group looked successively at his manager and his assistant, thinking about how to judge the situation, until he reached his conclusion: "Then I suppose I am going to trust you as well." The water type lowered his weapon and calmly put it back on its body.

Once he was sure he was off the hook, the older officer let out a sigh of relief and relaxed his strained body again. "Thank you, Sir, I am honored by your trust and will not disappoint you!", he responded eagerly and saluted, since that was what felt right to him.

The other just wanted to move on quickly. The last point on the meeting schedule was entrusting his subordinate with new functions. "Since we're done here in Aspertia now, our next task to take Neo Team Plasma's leaders down once and for all. For that purpose, we are going to seek out their hideout and use our newly-found knowledge about the Colress Device to combat them effectively. I'll meet you tomorrow in Humilau City. Until then, I expect you to gather information from the people in the area who witnessed the incident in Opelucit City."

"As you wish, superintendent", Looker answered, for once without a sulky undertone. Their host saw them off and as soon as they had taken the lift to get back to the ground floor, the jumped out of the nearest window to take the shortest route out of Aspertia, avoiding the people on the street who were preparing for the Cultural Festival as efficiently as he could. Lack-Two hit the road as well, unwilling to waste important time.

* * *

She stared alternately at Cheren and the famous Miss White from BW agency, holding the Light Stone in front of her chest. "You think... I could be a 'hero of truth'?", Whi-Two unbelievingly repeated the words her senior Pokedex holder had just spoken. It had surprised her that someone would knock on the door of her dorm room thus early on Saturday, it had surprised her even more who the unexpected guests were, and she was certain she was dreaming after learning what they had come for.

"Yes, and we hope that the Light Stone in which the legendary dragon Reshiram and its Trainer Black are trapped in will open if someone worthy asks it to", the visitor confirmed. "We wanted to try it with Dewott Kid as well, but since he's been expelled yesterday, you're our biggest hope."

And out of all the shocking things going on, this was the tip of the iceberg. "Lack-Two was expelled?", the younger girl asked louder than she intended, now hoping the girls in the rooms next to hers didn't hear.

Being the one who had made the decision for that, Cheren felt it was his obligation to elaborate on that. "He got into a clash with Hugh yesterday and school inventory got damaged in the consequences. Since he was the one who took responsibility for it, there had to be consequences." It was pretty clear that he wasn't as sure of his ruling as he should have been considering its severity, but he, too, wanted to take responsibility.

As soon as he had mentioned that Hugh had been involved, their classmate knew it was about her. Everything that flirt did was always about her. Never would she have thought, though, that he would go as far as to accept being expelled to shield her. "Oh, I'm... very sorry to hear that", she stammered. The blue-haired boy had been the one stating the trouble because of her pendant, that much she could figure out. Maybe she had underestimated how much Lack-Two truly cared.

White wanted to bring the topic of discussion back to what they had come for. "So what do you say? I'd really be in your debt if you could free them for me!"

The addressed knew very well who that Black was there in the stone, and that he had been the one who stopped her Lord N from liberating the Pokemon. She would have wanted to help him, like she would have wanted to help anyone in need. But she did not want to be a hero of truth, she did not want to be someone destined to fight against Team Plasma's ideals. Still, she couldn't refuse to try and help. She saw it in the woman's eyes. And in her teacher's eyes as well. "O-okay, if you think I can help... I want to try", she accepted the task with reluctance and doubt. She didn't even understand what made them think she could do this.

Cheren kept himself in the background while the girls made this arrangement. When he had approached the keeper of the stone with the gym leader's plan to attempt having his pupils free their friend, he had already felt uneasy with the thought of how Black would react when they would see each other again. The last time they had met, he had battled him at the League Tournament, siding with Team Plasma and then failing to make up for it as he passed out while everyone else continued fighting. He was unsure how the young man would react upon seeing him again. Still, the agency leader was more than willing to take any chance at opening the Light Stone, and wanted to be introduced to the studends that had been chosen as Pokedex holders as soon as possible. She had immediately thought of the ones who played Dewott Kid and Foongus Girl at the Pokestar Studios, but upon learning the former had been expelled the day prior, she had asked for the female hero instead. Now he was just pondering what he should do in case this worked.

Handing over the important item carefully, the business woman smiled gratefully at the transfer student and her Foongus, which was jumping up and down next to her leg excitedly and distracted her from the gym leader's discomfiture behind her. At least the Pokemon was certain its Trainer had the potential to be a hero. "Thank you, Whi-Two. Even if it doesn't work, I appreciate that you're trying to help", she said. The hope was evident in her voice, after two long years this could be the moment in which they were making things right again.

Even more gingerly than her, the supposed hero took the Light Stone in both her hands. It was even heavier than she had expected. "Okay, so I have to ask for its power, right?" The two opposite to her nodded. "Alright, uhm... Reshiram, I desperately need you to come out of your stone, please open up for me and fight for truth at my side", she stumbled, trying to act as genuinely as she did when playing Foongus Girl. She didn't know what she expected. Nothing happened.

Seeing she very awkward when there was no reaction, Cheren finally brought himself to try and support his student. That was what motivated him like nothing else, more than his pursuit of strength, he wanted to support those who depended on him. "From what I heard, Black brought the legendary dragon out with his strong determination. Maybe it wants to hear what it should fight for. Would you aid us in combatting the remnants of Team Plasma who are rising up again currently, Whi-Two?", was his recommendation. He was confident enough that involving her would be fine, seeing how she had been skilled enough to earn a Pokedex from Bianca and assuming she would be able to utilize the strength of the fire dragon. What he didn't know was the moral struggle he put her through with asking this of her.

Knowing she would have to free the boy who had stood in the way of Lord N's dream had been hard enough, but being asked to fight her former comrades was too much for the former Team Plasma member. Her mother had told her that the people now using the name were not following the king anymore, but it was hard for her to believe that they didn't have the good of Pokemon on their mind and were really bad people. After all, she would have been condemned the same way that they were being condemned now. But despite all that, with Cheren and White's expectant looks on her, she couldn't say No. "If you think that's a good idea..." So she came up with a way to phrase it: "I am determined to bring the truth about Team Plasma to light, and I call upon your help to reach my goal, so we can save as many as possible." This sure did convince the two observers. But not Reshiram. The Light Stone still showed now stirring.

"I don't think this is working. Please don't feel bad about it, aside from Black, nobody has been able to convince that stupid rock. I'm sorry I bothered you with it", the talent scout apologized, trying to not let her disappointment show.

Her disappointment still showed. "No, I'm the one who is sorry! I really wish I could have helped you", Whi-Two excused herself. While she had not wanted to lead this battle, her will to help the woman and her friend was sincere, so it wasn't a lie. Still, there was also a certain relief that she was not the kind of hero they were looking for.

The teacher knew they would have to make the most of the remaining time until the hideout of Neo Team Plasma would be found, so he ended their attendence. "Thanks again for your time. We'll be leaving then, I hope to see you in class."

A large burden lifted from the girl's shoulders once she was alone again. She quickly returned to her bed, under which she had hidden the letter she was reading when it had knocked on her door. Once she was sure it was safe, she meticulously scanned every word of the Greet Mail which the strange bird type, according to her book of Pokemon that immigrated to Unova a Wingull, had delivered to her. It was sent by Rood. He had messaged all those who had been taught in Lord N's beliefs and were still devoted to them. It said that the true king of Team Plasma had returned, and that they could come together to meet him in the monastery of Driftveil City where they had been raised.

The former member wasted no time and packed her stuff together. According to the letter's assertion, a Swanna would come to pick her up on the next morning before everyone else would wake up. While she desperately searched for her old uniform her mother had disposed of without telling her, someone knocked at the door again.

At first thinking Cheren and White had remembered something and came back, she winced when instead she saw Lack-Two's smiling face. Being wary around him came natural to her, even more so now that she had been the reason he got into trouble. She had usually thought it would be the other way around, now it seemed that had just been her paranoia and she was the real cause of all the tension. But he didn't seem to be angry, frustrated or unforgiving at all. "Hey, Lack-Two, what are you doing here?", she asked, already thinking about how she could best apologize for what had happened.

"Hi, Whi-Two. I saw Mr Cheren and Miss White coming from the direction of your dorm, and I was wondering what they came for", he casually started a conversation.

He was good at that, she would have almost gone along with it. But one thing didn't add up. "Wouldn't you be unable to tell from which direction they're coming if you hadn't been in the corridor to the girls' dorms already?", she retorted. There was another reason he had come, she would not be distracted from that.

The secret agent had to admit defeat this time. "You're right, I originally was on my way here because I wanted to ask you something. Maybe you heard that I have to leave Aspertia City tomorrow", he mentioned, still with a voice that let no hidden intentions show. After all, he did not need to trick her to fulfill his mission anymore. For once, he had come only for himself.

"Yes, I heard about it", his counterpart admitted, visibly shrinking a little as she blushed slightly at the thought. "I don't think I thanked you enough for what you did for me yesterday. It seems like Hugh was very violent, I don't know what I would have done on my own." She did not like the feeling of being in his dept, but she told herself that it was only fair looking at what he had put himself through for her sake and how little she had thanked him so far. If anyone had asked, she couldn't have named a reason why he shouldn't be her friend.

His smile only grew at her words, but there was something soothing about it. That smile was still so much like N's. He was drawing that happiness only from knowing others were well because of him. "You don't need to worry about Hugh anymore. I believe I was able to change his mind", was what he said to reassure her. It did the job.

It did feel like a relief to her to know she wouldn't have to fear her classmate any more. "Thanks for all your help, then. Let me know if I can do something for you in return", she offered with candid gratitude. "It seems to have become a habit that you safe me, I am sorry I made so many problems."

"It's not a problem at all, I am happy to help you. It would be a fair reward if we could spend my last day in this city together, right?" the boy proposed with a light-hearted voice.

After hearing this, she made an exhausted face. "Sorry, but I'm really not in the mood for collecting data for the Pokedex today", she excused herself. This helped her realize that her malaise probably did not come from him but the device which basically forced her to put Pokemon in these small prisons.

He had to suppress a laughter at her words. It was cute to him how she didn't see what he was after, even now that his goal had changed to what he had always pretended it was. "No, that wasn't what I meant", he corrected. "I intended to ask you out on a date."

Suddenly, her face turned bright red. Usually, her Foongus would attack people who made her feel like that, but she was stunned that it didn't. After the boy saved her from Keldeo's onslaught, it seemed to have accepted him as worthy of being her friend. Without the Pokemon's help, she had no idea how to react. Since she had always rejected him, her instincts told her to do that. But if it wasn't about the Pokedex, she couldn't honestly say that there was no part of her that was okay with his request.

Paying close attention to her reaction as he had always done, he could tell exactly that she was open for it but had her reservations, so he went on confidently to make it easier for her. "Let's make a game out of it. I'll flip this coin, and if it's neither heads nor tails, you'll go out with me."

That suggestion confused the girl, since she had no idea how he intended on winning it. For a second she thought that meant he didn't want to date her after all, then she remembered who the person in question was and knew that wasn't what he planned. So the girl just took a coin out of her pocket, curious to find out what was going on in his mind. "Fine, if you think that's a good way to do this...", she mumbled, eyeing him guardedly.

He grinned and gently accepted the coin, shortly looking at the Magikarp portrayed on one side of it. "Thanks, you won't regret it." With these words, the boy threw it over his head. Finally, the training in throwing a coin into the jukebox from a distance to enter the Magician's lab paid off. The small thing landed right in the vase on the cupboard behind him and got stuck. The rim pointed upwards. He didn't need to turn around to know he won; seeing her face was enough. "Is it okay if we meet at the road beneath the lookout at 3pm? Don't worry, I'm going to prepare the picnic." Once they had agreed on the specifics, he left her alone with her thoughts. It was quite hard for her to believe that she was just one day away from both of them leaving the school behind, and that close to the finish line she had given into his request. At least Foongy appeared to be satisfied.

* * *

The clock tower showed her that it was exactly 3 o' clock in the afternoon when Whi-Two made her way to the appointed rendezvous point. On her way there, she had seen Hugh letting off steam by obliterating Trainers that had come for the festival on the battleground. When she had met Leo wandering around showing everything to Hugh's sister, who was riding on his Deino, she stopped to talk with the two for a few minutes. She had been cautious not to be too early.  
He, on the other hand, had been there twenty minutes earlier, cautious not to let her wait under any circumstances. "Thank you for coming. Punctual to the minute. I appreciate that", Lack-Two praised her as soon as she was close enough to hear his voice from a distance. The first thing she saw was his signature smile, shining through the crowd, making it easy to find him.

"Well, I'm here, so you may tell me what you've planned now", Whi-Two demanded. She noticed that he wasn't holding a picnic basket as he had announced he would.

As an answer, he pointed towards the bushes. "Come on, I'll show you when we're there", the young man promised. Then he went to a small trail.  
She had problems following him through the mud with the stockings she specially put on for a reason she couldn't figure out herself. Now, the girl inwardly cursed herself for this act of high regard, but she feared that, after losing sight of him, she wouldn't be able to find the way back ever again, so she gave her best to keep up. He noticed her struggles, obviously, and already knew what to do about it. "Ah, sorry, I should have paid more attention to your shoes, and not just since they're so pretty. Here, let me help you." While saying that last sentence, he already positioned next to her and put one hand on her back, the other behind her kneecaps, lifting her up like he had done it near the Pledge Grove, in the Pokestar Studios and on the schoolgrounds the day prior. At first she tried to protest against this method again, but this time she finally accepted it when she saw there was no point in arguing and allowed him to carry her until they reached the point near the river where he and Yancy used to have their dates.

Lack-Two had spent the time after lunch and before their appointment by making the place comfortable. He had placed thick, smooth blankets on the stone ground and parked everything one could think of when imagining a picnic in the middle of the platform. It was unusual for her, but the girl immediately felt convenient. The first thing she greedily ate was a Parfait he handed her as she sat down.

"This tasted great", she praised after she finished the meal. "Where did you buy that?"

The secret agent grinned. "You're flattering me. I cooked it myself." She made a surprised face, not doubting his statement but still not having expected it from him. "You said it's your favorite food, but I didn't know where to get a good one, so I made it myself", he explained, satisfied that the work had paid off.

Before she remembered when she had said anything about her favorite food, it took a moment. "Wait, I mentioned that in my introduction to the class when I first came to the Trainer School, right? I can't believe you still thought of that", she spoke her thoughts out loud.

"Of course I do, I've been waiting for the day I could make you a Parfait ever since", his response came with a lighthearted laugh people seldom heard from him.

They lingered like this for a while until he stood up again. "So, how about we go to the festival now? Otherwise we're going to miss the concert", he mentioned. And Whi-Two astonished him by not complaining about being carried over the muddy trail once more.

It was half past four in the afternoon when the couple arrived at the theater, and Roxie was in the middle of her concert. The musical performance of the famous band had been organized by the girls in the class, after a bit of preliminary work by the Interpol member who had worked with the young gym leader to fight Neo Team Plasma. Originally, he had intended to use this as a way to get the information his target had been holding, but after Hugh's meddling sped up the process, he welcomed the opportunity to use it for his personal plan. Also, while it meant little to him, helping with the setup of something that could bring others enjoyment wasn't too bad by itself. And the stage show was a huge success, more people than anywhere else on the fairground had gathered here. Still, Lack-Two just had to raise his hand a few times to channel a way through the crowd. But as they reached the first row, his date wasn't able to hide her indisposition towards this kind of music any longer. Roxie's rock just wasn't for her.

The boy noticed it and leaned towards her. "Will you do me a favor if I change the genre of the music?", he asked, having no doubt he'd be able to.

"I'll do everything", she conceded. On the one hand, she wanted the tumult to end faster than she could make it out of the throng, on the other hand she didn't truly believe in him having any influence over what a star like Roxie played.

Having her confirmation, he stepped towards the security personnel. He showed them a backstage pass Roxie bestowed on him before they infiltrated the frigate of Team Plasma together. He had needed to investigate backstage quite often since his superiors figured him to be the most suitable agent for these kinds of assignments. But whenever he went to concerts privately, he preferred the first row, since what proceeded with the managers during the show was boring in his eyes.

The band leader had just ended her current song and went backstage to drink something before the next one when she noticed the well-known boy stepping towards her. She gestured the men that prepared to stop him to step aside, though they wouldn't have been able to do so anyway.  
"Lack-Two, for one moment I thought you wouldn't show up here today. Did you get the date you wanted? Because I'm still free for the evening", she greeted him smirking.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I guess I was able to lure her in", he answered, returning her smile, to which she replied with a seemingly frustrated face.

Roxie sighed. "Too bad... What can I do for you, then?" Her Scolipede seemed to follow the conversation closely from the background, mimicing its Trainer's expression, pretending to be mad at him for the rejection.

"It turns out she's not a fan of rock music. Very strange, isn't it?", the officer described his situation with humor. "Could you play your cozy song for us next?"

The young woman chuckled, slowly shaking her head ironically. "Everything for you and your date. But I need to get back on the stage now, so you should better hurry before someone steals your dance." She winked before turning around to get back to her band while Lack-Two ran towards the exit and made his way back to Whi-Two.

Said girl marveled as Roxie announced it was time for a different kind of song, and that the boys in the audience were supposed to invite a girl to dance. Suddenly, her companion stood next to her again and hold out a hand. The expression on his face told her this was his doing. "Care to dance?", he asked gently.

"I can't dance- I don't know how to...", she stuttered as her face turned red again.

„You owe me a favor, remember?", he said with that winning smile only he could put on, and she knew neither he nor her heart would leave her a choice. Even Foongy jumped off her shoulder and moved away to make room for them. In the process, it disrupted some other couples, but it didn't mind, and even buzzing at some to be sure her Trainer would not be interrupted.  
So she gave in. He held her hands in his and took the lead, showing her which steps to take and moving her along to the rhytm of the poison type gym leader's intoxicating chant. And after the song ended, despite being out of breath and a little dizzy from being twirled around a few times, she had to admit that it had been long since she had enjoyed something that much, having forgotten all of her qualms since she had to focus fully on the dance. He was a very experienced dancer, since it had been important for several missions to practice it.

While the concert continued and the band switched back to rock music, the couple made its way out of the crowd and went down the roads to examine the booths that had been built up in the entire downtown. They rather reminded at a funfair than at a Culture Festival, though one could also say that this was exactly Unova's culture. When they dropped across a hut operating a ball throwing game, Whi-Two's eyes got stuck on a big shining soft toy. "Is that a Foongus-toy over there?", she asked amazed, drawing her partner's attention to it.

A confident grin formed on his face. "You want me to win it for you?", he proposed.

She wasn't able to deny that she would have liked to have it, but the girl doubted anyone could thrive in those games. "Aren't such booths designed to be impossible? The producers scam you to earn money quickly."

Lack-Two wasn't discouraged by that. "You can't be scammed if you know what they are going to try. Let me show you." He made the final steps towards the attraction, threw a coin on the counter and took a ball. The goal was to hit a little Braviary made of pasteboard that moved around in front of a painted starry sky to make it pass out. The problem was that it was constructed in a way it indeed looked shaky, but wouldn't react to a hit. Some smaller fake bird Pokemon were scattered around it, moving slowlier to make them easier targets. Knocking them over was possible and worth some of the smaller prizes.  
Therefore, most people instead went for a Rufflet or Vullaby and were satisfied with what they got. Luckily, there were enough passerby who complained about how it was impossible to get Braviary and called it an obvious fraud, so a switch had been added that allowed the operator to show it was manageable after he'd apply it secretly. From the outside, it seemed to be a light switch, but the agent knew about its true nature. He positioned himself, aimed, waited for the target to move towards the right spot as well and threw the ball. It first hit the switch and flicked it, then it bounced off and bowled over the cardboard bird.

The operator was visibly dumbfounded upon seeing this, but pretended to congratulate the winner on his good throw and handed him the soft toy of the grass type, which was then passed on to the latter's date. She showed him a flattered 'I know what you're going to say'-smile as she accepted the present. "Yeah, I know, you told me you could do it." Her Pokemon was just as happy about the victory, cheering as it could hop onto its equivalent which its Trainer carried with both arms. It made her happy to see her friend finding a cuddly place between her chest and the toy.

The next place where she stopped him was at the great town square in front of the Trainer School. One of the attractions set up here was the tent of a fortune-teller. He didn't truly believe in such malarkey, but she explained that it was for fun and not for real predictions, so he acquiesced in her wish.

A middle-aged woman with black hair reaching to her shoulders dressed in a violet gown and blue jeans looked up from a crystal ball as they entered. Behind her was a Reuniclus levitating above the ground and cheerfully waving at the guests. Its Trainer wasn't in as much of a good mood. "You're not who I'm looking for...", she sighed and lowered her head again. "You can come in, anyway", she appended when she noticed the two stood still in the entrance. "What can I do for you two young lovers?" Whi-Two blushed as she had done quite often that day, while Lack-Two smiled responsive. Maybe she wasn't thus remote from realism after all.

"Could you read our palms, please?", the girl requested, choosing what she considered to be the most personalized method.

"Well then, show me what we're working with.", the woman breathed. The former member of Team Plasma went first and held out her hand and she examined it for about thirty seconds.

The psychic type Pokemon moved towards them as well, touching both her hand and that of the witch with its strange fingers. "Please aid me with your Future Sight, Reuniclus", the woman instructed. The male trainer wanted to point out that this wasn't how the move worked, just what it was called, but chose to withhold himself.

Thus, the fortune-teller did her part. "Pointed fingertips, a short Heart Line... That always indicates a dark prophecy." The girl's face turned pale. When the Pokemon finished its attack, the psychic started speaking like she was controlled by some power. "The game is over, and you lost. Now it's time to pay the cost", she rhymed.  
Whi-Two panted a little as she stepped back to let her friend try it, leaving her prophecy uncommented. He knew how to interpret it anyway. But still, he believed the accordance of the phrase was a coincidence. Curious whether the woman would be lucky again, he held out his hand himself, and she took her time to survey it thoroughly, with Reuniclus repeating the routine. "A strong shape, and uncommonly long Heart and Head Lines... You two are so similar in your mind, yet so different in your intentions. I can't tell whether you are identical or opposite to each other-" Then she was taken over another time. "In every war, one needs a pawn. Make sure to know which side you're on."

The Interpol officer tore his hand away from her. "I know very well, thank you", he asserted.

"Don't be so certain", his counterpart advised, regaining her senses. An awkward silence followed. The woman had nothing more to say, but none of the two was truly satisfied by hearing that, even when they both didn't truly believe in it. This unpleasant moment was only disrupted by an explosion taking place nearby.

Wasting no time to find out what happened, the pair ran out of the canopy and looked around until they spotted an Eelektross floating around. It was searching for something. Or someone. Lack-Two deduced that it searched for a person who would come out of their shelter when they heard the sound of destruction. It was a Pokemon which wouldn't be found in the wild due to only evolving when given a Thunder Stone, but there was nobody around to give it orders, which made it probable that the Colress Device was being used to control it. That meant most likely it searched for him.  
He seemed to be right, because as soon as it spotted the two, it hovered in their direction and shot another Zap Canon at them. The attack missed clearly, but the danger was undeniable as the projectile caused another burst where it fell. People all around them fled in panic, among them the fortune-teller, and with the skilled Trainers all gathered where the battling tournament was taking place at the other end of the festival area, there was nobody else around who would have dared to take the aggressor on. "Stay here, I'll lure it away", Lack-Two recommended his partner.

He raced away from his partner and waited for the hostile Pokemon to follow him. But it didn't. It aimed at Whi-Two. The secret agent immediately comprehended his miscalculation and called out his Samurott. It used the swing of the movement launching it out of the ball and plunged in front of the girl, intercepting the powerful electric attack. Afterwards, it tried to stand up and repulse, but it was paralyzed and profusely tattered.

Seeing the water type thus unfit, Foongus figured it was now its turn to protect its friend. It jumped towards the eel and evaded one more Zap Canon before it assailed with Giga Drain. "Foongy, no!", Whi-Two pleaded when Eelektross countered with a super effective Flamethrower after taking the hit quite easily due to its high special defense. Fortunately, her Pokemon managed to dodge the new move, but it had to do so over and over again. It was only a matter of time until the usually slow mushroom would get hit and eliminated.

The more experienced Trainer had reached his Samurott and examined it, hoping for Foongy to keep up a little longer. "There's no use in letting you fight on", he sighed. He called it back and took the second capsule from his belt. The boy alternately eyed the Luxury Ball and the fighting grass type. He had no choice. "I wanted to never to use this", he whispered to himself. As he pressed his eyes together, he released Cresselia for the first time after it had been captured.

The legendary Pokemon roared wildly, instantly catching the attention of the foe. Eelektross fired the fifth Zap Canon at Lack-Two's Pokemon. Even though the attack missed, Cresselia only got more vexed. "This is the only chance you'll get to redeem yourself", its owner hailed.  
It measured its possibilities for a moment and decided to turn against the seemingly wild Pokemon. A ring of energy balls, created by its Psyshock, flew over the square and hit the Eelektross at its weak points, but it withstood. The counterattack was another Zap Canon. "So PP Ups were used", the detective inferred. "That means this is indeed a Pokemon of Colress, and since he's nowhere around, he must have solved the problem with the range of his device."  
Anyway, Lack-Two knew that after at most two more onslaughts, the PP would be exhausted. So he ordered the legendary to wait for those and afterwards take it down. It prepared to evade the electric type moves, which worked for the first, but not the second. The paralysis forced Cresselia to take more time for its rebound. In spite of that disadvantage, as soon as the Eelektross could only use Flamethrower anymore, it was no longer a threat. The dream Pokemon launched a Psychic at the eel, which knocked it out, and in the process, the aggression threw down several booths in the background.

While the defeated opponent slowly regained consciousness and crawled away, Whi-Two realized what hadhappened and walked towards Cresselia amazed. Lack-Two called it back before she reached it, afraid of what consequences might occur, of what it might do. He looked at the chaos around them and then at the ball in his hand. "Your power truly is devastating", he observed. „I'm sorry, but I can't release you yet."

The girl knew she wasn't supposed to hear his words, though she couldn't resist the temptation to eavesdrop. After giving him time to put down the capsule, feeling sorry for the psychic type which was trapped inside it but understanding why it was for the best in this case, she approached him again. "Well, I don't know what that was about, but thanks for saving me."

"This time, I wouldn't have done it without your friend", he directed some of the praise at Foongy, patting it shortly before laying an arm around her shoulder. For multiple reasons, she didn't make attempts to resist this time. "Though I wouldn't mind if we got into trouble less often", he declared with a wink.

* * *

The couple leaned on the railing of the lookout, performing Whi-Two's favorite activity, star-gazing. For once, she didn't think about Bouffalant and Gothorita. Well, she thought about Bouffalant in a certain way. "You know, I want to apologize for thinking you had alterior motives this entire time. It was hard for me to believe you really cared for me, but you thought all this out to show me you do. I appreciate it", she broke the silence.

He drove his eyes away from the stars and looked at her. "I had my reasons for what I did, but it made me truly happy when I could do something good for you. I believe I liked how you made me feel needed. For you, I can put effort in, and see how it pays off when you open up to me", he elucidated.

"I'm open for you. What is your reason to be here right now?", she wanted to know.

The boy took his time to evaluate what's the answer. "I want you to like me. I am here to conquer your heart - that's my mission."

She considered him with a understanding look. "And what if you succeed?", the girl implied her approval.

He shook his head slowly. "I don't really know. For me a success has always been a conclusion, for once I haven't planned ahead. I have to leave tomorrow." But still, he was sure of one thing. "It doesn't matter, though. Because I know what I want right now."

Their faces got closer. Only now, she understood the feeling he sparked in her. And now, she was ready to give in. Their faces got closer. As their lips were about to touch, an image emerged in her mind. An image of the person opposite to her being her Lord N. In the last moment, she backed away. "I'm sorry, I can't", Whi-Two apologized, getting only a short glance at his disappointmet before she shunned his gaze.

He turned away from her. "Then I guess I failed. You're exactly the girl you were when you first entered the school", Lack-Two concluded.

"I guess I am", she agreed sorrowfully, not having to think about what he meant.

"Well, I should go now. Have a calm night." The boy stepped towards the stairs.

But she didn't want him to go. "The reason- I can't do it because...", Whi-Two stuttered, but she couldn't form a complete sentence. Her mind sure tried to kill her now. _Stop him. Tell him! Don't let him leave- SAY SOMETHING!_ "I'm a member of Team Plasma", she cried after him.

The detective stopped in his track. But he didn't turn around. About a minute of silence followed. It felt like hours for both of them. Whi-Two held her mouth with her hands, being unsure what would happen now. Then, he finally spoke up. "I know." Hearing that shocked her, but he wasn't done yet. "I suspected it since our first ramble, and when Hugh found your pendant, I finally knew for sure. But even though I knew it all along, even though everything in my mind tried to dissuade me from it, I still couldn't help but fall in love with you."  
He fished up something from his pocket and finally faced her. Now, she saw a sight nobody else had witnessed before: His eyes were watery. "I think this belongs to you." With these words, he threw the pendant over to the girl. She eyed it unbelieving while he left, most likely for good.

She needed a moment to realize what just occured, a moment he used to get away as fast as possible, which was very fast in his case. A loud cry echoed through the night, and she threw the necklace over the railing frustrated.  
It landed in the river, where a Basculin mistook it for food and swallowed it, so that nobody would ever see it again.


	10. vs. Basculin - Partners And Departures

Whi-Two woke up to the sound of a bird knocking on her window. She hadn't slept well after the previous evening, having had nightmares she didn't remember, and needed a moment to locate the source of the noise. Looking towards the glass separating her dorm room from the outside world, there was only a faint silhouette of a Pokemon visible in the darkness. It was only shortly before the sunrise, but the light was still very weak. She wearily plodded out of her bed and close to the pane to get a glance at who the visitor was, being cautious since she remembered how Eelektross attacked her not so long ago. Seeing the Swanna that was supposed to pick her up, she finally opened it. As she realized what the Pokemon's intention was, she hastily snapped out of her bleary state and grabbed her bag. During the events of the last day, she had totally forgot about her appointment.  
However, once she returned with her luggage, the girl wondered how to proceed. "How are we going to do this?", she asked the flying type. Swanna symbolized her to take place on its back. "No, I can't use you like a mode of transport! That would remove you of your rights and dignity", the member of Team Plasma complained. But her Foongus hopped past her and demonstrated how it was done, taking place directly behind its new companion's long, thin throat. "What? You think it's okay, Foongy? If you say so...", she muttered unsure after watching her friend, and finally sat down on the swan. Without hesitation or difficulties, it lifted off.

Had she not found out this way that flying on Pokemon was not just uncomfortable because of her philosophy but also since it did no good for her fear of heights, the girl could have noticed the plane on a glade in the woods near the Floccesy Ranch on her way towards Driftveil City. But she was too busy closing her eyes and trying not to think about her predicament.  
When the first sunlight lightly illuminated the forest grounds, the Interpol member that had been pretending to be a student in Aspertia for multiple months now turned up at the landing field to leave the area behind. The door of the private jet opened, and the gym leader of Mistralton City greeted the agent cheerfully. "I've been waiting for you, Superintendent Lack-Two. Ready to hop aboard my plane?", she asked anticipatory.

The boy faked one of his confident smiles to hide his dejection. He hadn't slept all night once again. Usually that wasn't much of a problem for the insomniac, only this time he hadn't been able to drive his thoughts away from how close the decision between peace for his soul and another scar in his heart had been. Trying to distract himself increased the pain, thinking about what had been his mistake doubled it. However, next up was the decision between peace for Unova and more than just scars on his body. He knew he had to focus now.

Just before he was about to enter the plain, he stopped on the steps. "If you don't come out of hiding now, you won't catch up again, you know that, right?"

A few seconds passed as he waited for the reaction to his words, then a well-known former classmate of his stepped forward out of the shadow of a large tree he had attempted to hide behind. "A large private jet isn't exactly the most discreet way of leaving, don't you think?", Hugh pointed out.

The addressed shrugged it off. "My legal guardian didn't want me to wait for the ferry", he excused the extravagence. Truth be told, he would have preferred something less conspicuous as well, but this was the fastest way to get where he needed to be, and time was more important than reticence at a time like this.

"Stop playing dumb with me, I heard her call you Superintendent", the Qwilfish-head argued.

Skyla tilted her head, slightly amused by the situation. "Hee-hee, I'm sorry for blowing your cover. Who's your friend?", she was curious to find out.

His so-called friend directed his attention to the pilot for a moment "My name is Hugh, I'm a student at Aspertia City's Trainer School striving to become stronger so I can reclaim all the Pokemon Team Plasma stole", was how he introduced himself. "And now I want to know what you're after as well. Who are you really?" He took a few steps forward to brindge the gap between him and his counterpart.

The latter turned to face him, only to regard him with a dark glare. "I am Superintendent Black Two of the International Police. My task is to arrest the leaders of Neo Team Plasma." He paused to get a clear perception of his former classmate's reaction. One could see on his face how the wheels in his mind turned as he put all the pieces together, why Lack-Two had come the school, what the reasons for his behavior and skills in battle were, wherefore he had interfered with the plan to bust the Team Plasma Grunt in hiding. "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into", he reproached the young man while he was still thinking.

"Oh, I know very well", Hugh asserted, not needing long to snap out of his surprise. "We're both after the same thing, we want to bring Team Plasma down once and for all. I won't let you do that without me." His voice carried the usual certainty that combined his naivety and bravery that could be summed up as determination.

"You're not strong enough", the detective simply detected in response. His main issue was that he didn't like unknown factors on his chessboard. They made his flawless planning more difficult.

Hugh shook his head. He wouldn't give up that easily, especially not when it was about his strength. "You were right, I never had a chance against you. But I learned from all our battles, and I improved after both victories and losses to gain the power needed to take these villains on. That's the reason I came to that school in the first place. Type disadvantage won't catch me off guard any longer", he protested.

Yet still, the boy opposite to him only frowned. "Does Mr Cheren even know you left? Hugh, the probability of your sister's Purrloin being there is very low. This isn't about your personal revenge, it's about saving our region from a criminal organization with legendary Pokemon on their side."

"You nailed it: It's our world! My sister will miss more than her Purrloin if we fail. And if they have legendary Pokemon on their side, you will need all the help you can get. I'm ready to face those who intend to harm us", the other Trainer retried.

Lack-Two gave up arguing when he remembered his time was too valuable to waste it like this. "If you enter this plane, I can't secure your safety", he clarified to not be sure it was clear that this wasn't a holiday trip.

Hugh grinned. "That's good, because I hate being safe", he noted. "And whatever those grunts apply against us, it can't be as bad as what Mr Cheren will do to me when he hears how horribly I failed at our plan."

The agent couldn't help but smile after this joke, even though he wasn't the type for humor and not in the mood for it. The combination of these two was likely the decisive factor for why he accepted his own reaction. "Well then, welcome aboard", he sighed, stepping inside and gesturing for the new team member to do the same as Skyla went into the cockpit satisfied. Maybe after everything that had happened during the last few days, an escort wasn't too awful for his state of mind.

* * *

Cheren stared at the black rocks in the background behind Bianca unbelieving, thinking for a second she had played around with the settings of her Xtransceiver before he had called her. "I thought your father wouldn't allow you to leave Nuvema Town anymore?", he recalled. He himself was readying his Unfezant for takeoff on the battlegrounds of his school, still waiting to hear from Clay where they would have to go to.

"Yeah, it took a while to persuade him, but Professor Juniper has wanted to send me on a research trip to Reversal Mountain for a long time now, and after my dad saw the pictures of Opelucid City frozen by Neo Team Plasma, I was able to convince him I would be safer in a cave instead of an open town"; she expounded how she had received the permission to travel to the dormant volcano she was in now. "I already heard from Elesa that this is the part of Unova in which Team Plasma is hiding in. I want to be with you when you go there to fight them." Her voice was more determined than he was used to.

And the newest gym leader couldn't deny that he shared her father's fears to some extend. "Team Plasma has only become more dangerous over the last two years, it will be a tough battle. Are you sure it's a good idea to come?", he questioned, not really sure about whether he wanted to change her mind but uncomfortable with the idea of her being there.

She gave him a sad look. "I wasn't even there at the League two years ago. I couldn't do anything to help Black and now he's gone. I would never forgive myself if something happens to you or the others now and I didn't do anything again", she reasoned, her tone of voice making it obvious there was no stopping her.

Her friend sighed. "Yes, I know how you feel. I want to do it right this time as well." He put a hand in his hair indisposed. "I just hope that I don't have to leave for too long, after all I've got students waiting for me tomorrow."

This made the young woman giggle. "You're so responsible now, but somehow you're still that same old Cheren." It made her happy to see him like this, but also reminiscent. She wished so badly that their friend could still be with them to see them now. "How did the experiment to have your students open the Light Stone go?", she was curious to learn after he had already mentioned the kids.

But he had no good news for her. "Sadly, Reshiram showed no reaction. We could only test it on Whi-Two, the girl whom you gave the Pokedex, but she was the most promising prospect aside from Lack-Two who is probably already gone by now", he reported, dissatisfied with all their losses and failures. The tables had to turn now.

Bianca had promised herself she wouldn't lose her euphoria, so she stayed optimistic. "Then we will defeat those who did this to our friend!", she proclaimed eager to get it done.

"We will", the teacher agreed with her conviction. "I am going to contact you as again as soon as I know where we will all meet up. And Bianca...", he stopped her as she was about to end the call. "Please stay safe."

* * *

Whi-Two recognized the large building in the north of Driftveil City immediately. This was her destination, the monastery Rood and his most faithful followers used as their shelter. Back when she had been raised here, it was the biggest edifice around, now it was towered by the giant hotels Clay had built in the area to help the town's economy and his own cash grow. She didn't care much about that, though, the place hadn't lost its magic just because of this. Her former friends would be there, waiting for her. Her Lord N would be there, waiting for her. It was time to find out if it would play out like she always hoped it would, or if she'd have to regret all the decisions she made in the last days.

The Swanna dropped her in front of the hill and then flew off in the direction of the Driftveil Drawbridge, then on towards the sea. She looked after it for a moment, then her eyes travelled around unsurely. There was a group of tourists searching for a hotel with vacant rooms, some laborers were digging dirt out of a giant hole behind a sign that read 'Clay Tunnel' and traders shouted out advertisement in a hall without walls to sell their merchandise. None of them seemed to remark her, and she wondered why that felt so strange.

As she stood there longer and longer, the girl grew more and more scared. She was scared of how they would react. There was a possibility of them not accepting her again, or them not recognizing her anymore, or countless other bad things that unfolded in her head. It was like somebody else was controlling her legs and arms when she took the last steps. This was worse for her than her introduction to Cheren's class at the school, because these people's opinions already meant something to her before going in.  
As she finally entered with very slow and insecure steps, a group of young grunts that surrounded Rood and a certain man concealed by them turned towards her, eyeing her suspiciously. "Who sent you?", one of the girls Whi-Two never had close contact to asked unfriendly, stepping forward quickly in an attempt to control the situation. She was most likely thinking the guest was an outsider who had come to deal with their Lord N. The latter immediately stumbled backwards, afraid that she would get into trouble, raising her hands defensively. Foongy wouldn't shy away an inch, making itself ready for a fight to protect its friend. It had just looked around and was happy to see the place where it had met its Trainer, but it wouldn't let anything distract her from making sure nobody would harm her.

But Rood gingerly thrust the instigator of the tension aside and placed himself between her the newcomer's Pokemon and the instigator of the tension. !Stop being thus rude, this is your former partner Whi-Two! Don't you recognize her? She is here for the same reason as we are, and we should be grateful that she has come to aid us." The youngsters' faces lightened up. However, he took another look at her and had to bring up what had caused the confusion: "But forgive me for having to ask: Where is your uniform?"

Whi-Two blushed and looked at the ground. "My mother got rid of it. She thinks we need to move on and that Team Plasma is history, that's why she refused to come." Her hope had been that she wasn't the only one who didn't have the dress anymore, now she felt even more like an outsider. A memory of how her mother had supported her when she first entered the Trainer School popped up on her mind. It hurt her to know that she wouldn't support her now, that she was actively against this. Still, she came here for a reason, even this couldn't dissuade her from going through with it, though she couldn't hide it her dejection.

The sage laid a hand on her shoulder to alleviate her disappointment. He was able to comprehend it. The girl had been supposed to convince people of the rightness of Team Plasma's ideals, and now her own mother didn't believe in it anymore. The situation was quite similar to the relationship between him and his brother. The latter used to lead Team Plasma alongside him and strove for the liberation of all unhappy Pokemon, but when the organization parted, he kept loyal to Ghetsis and was now his most blinded enforcer...  
"That's very upsetting, but we have no time to mourn about it now. Could you three please search a new suit for her?", he asked the grunts in the front row. "And you others should prepare for setting off, now that we're all present."

The crowd disbanded, and the girl hoped to be finally able to talk to her Lord N again. But his sisters still entangled him in a conversation about what he had learned on his journeys, and she respected them too much to interrupt. So instead she turned away and tried to do what the others were doing. Maybe she just wasn't meant to talk to him.

* * *

Skyla came out of the cockpit while her copilot controlled the plane and gave her passengers last instructions. The two had been discussing the events of the last days once more, since the student wanted to know more about the agent's mission and the agent was curious as to how the student had seeked out the pendant he had been looking for. She felt a little sorry for having to disrupt their conversation, since it didn't seem like they had talked this way before. Still, timing was important for this. "Okay, Lack-Two, we're going to pass the Undella Bay in a little over a minute. There is no space where the jet can't land anywhere, and since you refused to go down in Lentimas Town, you'll have to drop out with parachutes. While you're on your way, we'll fetch the others and come to give you backup as soon as possible", she elaborated on their agreement, mostly to fill Hugh in on it.

"Wait, did you say parachutes?", the latter repeated cautiously.

The leader of the team stood up and followed the pilot to the emergency exit. "Thank you, Skyla, you're a big help. If I find out the exact coordinates of Neo Team Plasma's shelter before your other contacts do, I'll send them to you. I expect to see you there, I am looking forward to fighting alongside you. Come on, Hugh."

"Did you say parachutes?", the blue-haired boy asked once again, unable to process the idea.

Lack-Two took one and threw it over to his companion, who had to accept the two were serious about it once he held it. "Just fasten it to your back and jump", he allocated. The addressed stepped towards the outlet, attached his life-saving gear, opened the door and looked down dubiously. He was just about to turn back and say that he couldn't do it when the detective shoved him out. "That was for threatening Whi-Two", he established satisfied. Then, he adopted his own chute and waved goodbye to the gym leader before he followed.

They opened their parachutes shortly before reaching the water surface, Hugh because he got surprised by the fall and Lack-Two because he wanted to save time. After diving in, it took a few moments before they emerged, since they were taken aback by seeing the ruins of a colossal temple on the seabed. Luckily, due to the chutes floating on the water, it wasn't a long way back up once they remembered they had to come up for air, yet the taller boy had to spit out a noticeable amount of water. "Was pushing me really necessary?", he asked angrily, but his counterpart didn't get a chance to answer. A large horde of of Basculin had noticed the humans' appearance in their terrain. The group mostly consisted of red-striped fish, but it was spearheaded by a blue-striped one, which cropped up in front of them and deterred him from psyching out by assaulting them with its Aqua Tail-move, missing just barely.

Realizing how the hostile Pokemon surrounded them like pray, the agent took the capsule of his Samurott, but his partner was faster, sending forward his Vibrava. "Let me handle this", he requested. "Vibrava, use Sandstorm." His Pokemon did so and summoned strong winds that carried large masses of sand from the nearby beach towards them, making them circle around them and damaging the foes, which lost sight of their targets. Some of them tried to hit with Take Down, but they missed, occasionally even damaging each other and themselves with the recoil when they crashed into each other unfocused. "These thugs aren't a good unit, they'll disband if the one leading them is defeated. Vibrava, attack the blue one with Dragon Breath", Hugh ordered, and the ground type fired a beam at the opponent that stuck out in the shoal. The move paralyzed it, which stopped it from retaliating, and the rough grains of sand still flying around wildly finished it off. The Trainer's prediction turned out to be correct, with the leader gone the red-striped fish lost their coordination and exited the battle to avert their defeat.

"Your strategy really improved", Lack-Two praised as he called out his Samurott after the fight was done. The two young men held on to its back and it transported them to the beach of Undella Town. "Say, do you remember what Mr Cheren taught us about Basculin?", he wanted to know on the way there.

For a few seconds, the student had to think about it, then he remembered the lesson about Unova's water types. "They are very violent fish who protect their territory pugnaciously, no other Pokemon aside from maybe Corphish and Crawdaunt dare to stay around. There's also a lot of infighting between Basculin with different colors", was what he recalled.

That was what his former classmate wanted to get at. "Exactly, Basculin of different colors are natural enemies. It sometimes happens that members of a blue-striped school mingle with a red-striped one, or the other way around. But a blue-striped Basculin directing a group of red-striped ones like that? It's highly irregular." He paused as he stepped into the beach town after his Pokemon reached the shore. For him, swimming was not a problem, since his protective suit was water-repellent. For his unprepared partner, it was a larger issue. This was something they had to ignore for now, at least the sun would help his clothes to dry quickly. Once his Pokemon rested inside its ball again, he continued his deduction. "There are reports from the gym leaders of Stration City claiming they fought the Shadow Triad at the P2 Laboratory during the League incident two years ago. According to these, one of their members had a Basculin. We can assume that his Pokemon and the one we just thought are the same, and this swarm was a trap set by Team Plasma." It could have still been a coincidence, but he was rather sure about his conclusion.

"Can they do that? Is that one of the effects of this thing you called 'Colress Device'?", Hugh questioned, seeing what this was leading to.

At least it made one thing very clear: "If they set up this swarm in this area, that means we're on the right track", the detective pointed out. Taking no more time to admire the beauty of the landscape around them, he walked straight towards the entrance of the Marine Tube that had been built here just recently.

However, there was something about this wording that didn't sit well with his travel companion. "On the right track? Don't you know where we are going?" Despite the doubts coming up, he still followed inside the tunnel.

Showing no emotional reaction, the superintendent continued to walk ahead. "I know where we have to search, this submarine pathway will bring us there on the fastest way possible", his simple reasoning explained the direction he took.

As they stepped down the stairs, Hugh's jaw dropped in his amazement. The Marine Tube was a tunnel connecting Undella Town and Humilau City in the most direct way possible, which was through the ocean. And the walls had been built out of glass thick enough to withstand both the water pressure and contact with huge Pokemon to allow passengers a clear look at the sea Pokemon living in their natural habitat around the structure. He had never seen anything like that, a shoal of Remoraid travelling beneath a Mantine's wing, passing sleeping Alomomola and Frillish. Since they were headed for the same direction, he could follow them with their eyes for a while, enjoying the sight as they passed through a coral reef. It got even better when a large Wailord swam above them around the middle of the way. Only the large numbers of Basculin worried him a little, but it was normal for the Pokemon to be around in masses, and he dismissed it as his paranoia.  
So he kept taking in how marvelous the experience was and inwardly thanked the people who had the idea for this and the engineers who implemented it. However, at some point of the way, he noticed that none of this seemed to make an impression on his partner, and grew annoyed by this seclusion. "What's up with you? I thought you were such a romantic. Do Interpol members see something like this daily?"

Lack-Two turned his head towards him slightly annoyed, not seeing where the problem was, but eventually reminded himself that he didn't know any better. "Sorry, Hugh, but I've seen – and lost – more beautiful things during the last days", he apologized remorseless. After that, they both kept quiet until they passed the tunnel's end and made it to the surface again.

It was lunchtime when they arrived in the tropical town built above the water. The climate here should have been similarly warm as the area of Undella, but it felt cooler, and one had to wonder whether that was because of the close presence of the legendary dragon that was hiding here somewhere or just due to the difference in humidity. Still, the village was very idyllic, and nobody would have suspected anything bad going on here. The two of them went over the thin wooden footbridge towards a snack bar to take a short break and eat something before their appointed meeting with Looker, whom Hugh already got informed about during the flight. The superintendent didn't usually need breaks, still he knew to offer his subordinates enough time to regain their strength would increase their productivity.  
This didn't last long, though, since Looker was ahead of the schedule. He entered the small room in his incredibly bad disguise with the strange glasses and mustache while they were still eating and slowly stepped towards them. Lack-Two sighed. "Even dust, when piled..."

"...Can become a mountain", the subordinate ended the phrase and sat down on the empty chair next to them. "Who is the stowaway?"

The boy, who was even taller than the detective, considered him with a peeved look. "He is just as indescreet as you described him, Lack-Two", he grumbled.

"Wait, I didn't mean to- You described me as what?", the adressed asked rather stunned, feeling sorry for his apparent misstep.

But the commander of the small team didn't care much about the quarrel. "Looker, this is Hugh, a student at the Trainer School who played a part in finding the blueprints of the Colress Device and proved to be viable in the heat of battle. He insisted on joining us", he explained instead.

The older man shook his head deprecatingly. "Surely I don't have to tell you that we are not allowed to consult uninvolved individuals for cases like this, especially not when there is such a high danger of them getting hurt in combat", he recalled.

His superior grinned a little, which resembled the winning smile of his persona. "I've been doing that the entire time, you just didn't notice", he evinced, thinking of Magician and Roxie.  
Looker didn't know how to react to the revelation, so he just kept quiet until they finished their meal. Then, Lack-Two allotted new orders. "Hugh, would you start searching the vicinity of Route 22 for any signal of Team Plasma while I introduce my subordinate into the newest information?", he specified.

"I'm on my way", the addressed declared and left. The other two followed him outside, but then searched for a corner where nobody would eavesdrop on them without him.

Oddly enough, it was Looker who started the conversation. "So, how did your date go?", he asked artlessly.

"That's none of your business!", Lack-Two snapped, his dissatisfaction and negative feelings which he had tried so hard to supress unloading. His subordinate was surprised, maybe even concerned – that was very unlike him. The young agent scrutinized him skeptically. "Magician told you what I was doing, didn't he?"

Looker, obliged to sincerity, nodded.

The superintendent thought for a moment. He had decided that the man opposite of him was trustworthy, or his manager had made that decision for him, so it was probably more advantageous for him to disclose his clues and suspicions. "Well, since we're already on a way more personal level than we're supposed to be, I may as well tell you the whole truth", he suggested. There was the added benefit of it distracting from his failed attempts to win Whi-Two over.

"I'd be honored.", his partner agreed fast and honestly, straightening himself up as he thought it appropriate for the serious discourse.

So his superior went ahead: "Let's start with how we got here. You came to Unova in the first place because it was your task to track down the _seven sages_ , right? And by now, we met Zinzolin and hopefully are about to face Ghetsis. While Rood's abode is well-known, the question remains what happened to the others. And by now, I can determine that sufficiently."

"I'm listening", Looker commented to affirm his close attention as the other made a dramatic break.

"Back when we fought Colress' Genesect, I ordered you to evacuate the area. But someone started doing that before we even arrived, remember? Most citizens were already in safety. And when we invaded their frigate in Virbank City, I told you about a spy that brought the gangway down for us. Last but not least, when you were stuck in Relic Castle, somebody advised me whom to notify in order to give you support. Those were Ryoku, Bronius and Giallo."

"An impressive inference. How did you find all that out?", the seasoned detective wanted to know.

Lack-Two smiled weakly. "Thorough investigation. When I observe an irregularity, I make sure to not allow any loose ends. So I asked the girls that came to help me after I defeated Genesect what the person who had told them to leave looked like. I looked into why the grunts had trusted our spy and which of our contacts could have been involved with Miss White until I had solid enough leads", he mentioned.

The subordinate nodded. "I understand what you intend to say, but did you disregard Gorm?", he questioned.

"Of course not, and this is where my theory gets into treacherous territory. Still, we have to consider the most likely possibilites, no matter what they are, even if we don't like it. Do you think you can take it?", his superior inquired. Looker eyed him uncertain, but nodded.  
So he spelled it out. "Our missions have been corrupted from the beginning. Truth be told, I wasn't completely honest with you either, since I was careful not to trust someone who could have been sent by the enemy."

Obviously, the man in the trench coat reacted as offended as was to be expected. "How could you think of me as a double agent? I've always been loyal towards you and the International Police, Sir!", he insisted importunately.

This didn't break the superintendent's calm. "I know that now, but I didn't want to take any risks. There are reasons for my suspicion against those who assigned you to assist me. We never got the assignment to stop Team Plasma's activities around Unova, only because the Interpol sent nobody else, I decided to handle it on my own. What's even stranger is the fact that, whenever we got information from the headquarters, we ended up in a trap or at a completely wrong place. At first, I thought Colress managed to distort our communications, but now I have to assume the conspiracy reaches far deeper. About two years ago, when the 'hero of truth' Black defeated their N and Team Plasma loomed to decay, they initialized an emergency plan. My assumption is that, since the last change in leadership, the boss of the International Police himself was replaced with Gorm from Neo Team Plasma, and he ensured we wouldn't accomplish anything that threatens them. That's why we never got to see a clear image of him, always jammed ones, and it's also why a boy who has lost the life of his mentor in his last mission and a man who hasn't accomplished anything noticeable since the arrest of Charon from Team Galactic were chosen for the job."

Looker warped his face in an undescribable way. "I'll do you a favor and ignore the last remark. What you say is manifest betrayal! You're the last one I expected to turn against the Interpol. I can't support this lack of loyalty", he determined.

In contrast to his facial expression, Lack-Two looked as solemnly as he did in his battles. "I know loyalty holds a great importance for you, but consider that it's exploited very easily. Don't hand it over to the wrong person. They will make you their pawn easily if you don't know which side you're on." A long pause followed. He remembered the rhyme of the fortune teller he had visited the day prior and cursed himself for adopting it. Meanwhile, the subordinate needed time to comprehend it. When his superior decided he had gotten enough time, he asked the crucial question. "I told you I am going to trust you. Do you trust me?"

Overcoming his doubts, the adult closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes, I trust you. If you are sure that they are foxing us, I believe you", he reassured.

The younger agent's face lightened up, a little bit of his fake schoolboy impression shining through, only this time it was genuine. "Thanks, Looker. I appreciate-" He didn't get to finish his sentence, though.

Hugh's resounding voice interrupted him, and his excitement said more than any words could have. "I found them!"

* * *

Whi-Two was alone on the balcony of the monastery, staring into the sky. All her preparations had been made, she only waited for the others now, and passed the time the only way she knew how. It was far from nighttime, but in her current situation, she found that stars weren't the only things worth interpreting. Dark clouds had blocked the sun and spread to cover up the entire sky above Driftveil City. Was it a warning of what was about to come, or was it a symbol of the dark emotions everyone felt in this moment?

"Why are you alone out here?", a voice suddenly asked. When she turned around after initially being startled, she was even more stunned to see it was her Lord N. The girl tried to greet him appropriately, but all she could do was stutter something unintelligible. He smiled at this. "I see you still haven't grown more confident."

"Sorry, I...", she apologized slowly, but she didn't know how to end the sentence.

He laid a hand on her shoulder. She had to tell herself that it had nothing to do with her and that he was just caring like it was his nature. After all, that was what she idolized him for in the first place. "There's no need to apologize, we all are going through a lot in times like this." He spoke like he knew very well what he was talking about, showing great empathy.

"After trying to somehow move on for so long, I just don't feel like I'm part of this anymore, and I don't understand why", she disclosed to him trustingly.

"You might not believe it, but most of us feels this way. After my loss, I've been worried about the people who believed in me… But it seems they know what they can do for Pokémon in their own ways. And now being here like this is the irregularity, not the norm", N asserted. "After two years of hiding, it's hard to reintegrate into the group, since we all learned my previous formula is incomplete. I myself feel a little uncomfortable with leading you into another fight after how it went last time. Still, I can't allow selfish humans to make Pokemon suffer, that's why I will do everything in my power to stop them. And I am grateful for your support, now more than ever."

She listened to his words carefully, taking everything in. They had the same effect on her like before. But one expression made her alerted. "Did you say 'previous formula'? You don't believe in what you taught us anymore?"

"I had to rework it", he confessed. She wanted to feel perturbed, but in his presence, she couldn't. "Pokémon battles do nothing more than hurt Pokémon... That's how I understood it, and that's why I hated battles. But it's not that simple. Pokémon battles decide winners and losers, it's true. Yet they do so much more. Your Pokémon, you, your opponents and their Pokémon, everyone can see what wonderful things the others have to contribute. Accepting different ideas changes the world like a chemical reaction. Pokémon battles are like a catalyst, a small component that leads to big changes, positive changes that are necessary. My friend Zekrom taught me that... And it's the formula I've derived from traveling the world. On my journey, I met some very interesting people. They all were quite skeptical when confronted with my ideas, but they were ready to discuss about it with me, and together we have been able to fill the gaps. For example, we pointed out why some Pokemon wish to live in our Pokeballs. Pokemon and humans will be freed from the oppression of Poke Balls when they exhibit their full potential together, when ideals and truth become one. I want you to think for yourself what it means."

While another ideology was the thing she needed the least right now, at the same time a private lecture with him had been her wildest dream for a long time now, and she couldn't help but forget her troubles and be interested. Foongy seemed to agree, it was true that she was happy to live with the grass type even without a Poke Ball, and that this was possible because they understood each other well enough, not because it rejected the capsules just like she had done. "What were the people you've met like?", she asked, eager to learn more.

He seemed to be just as happy to talk about it. "Many of them reminded me of Black, the Trainer whom Reshiram considered worthy to be a hero like me, I was honored that they took the time to discuss with me." She knew whom he was talking about and remembered how she was given the task of freeing him from the Light Stone. Now she wished even more so than before to be able to help White, Cheren and everyone else. He went on, noticing her reaction but not knowing what to make of it. "Others were like Ghetsis, and I was sorry to see that he isn't the only one with this mindset. But none of them was like you and the others who came to support me now, and I rather have you at my side now than any of them", the man claimed. Whi-Two smiled flattered and slowly came closer to him, feeling the desire to be close to her idol. N on the other hand felt nothing like that. "I should better go back to Rood, we need to leave this place soon if we want to reach the place Kyurem has been brought to before it is ready to fight again", he said, ignoring - maybe not even recognizing – her movements.

As he stepped back inside, her Foongus hopped over. It was the only one that saw her falling down on her knees. Because seeing him moving away so quickly reminded her of one specific thing, and the positive emotions she had felt were gone as soon as she was alone like on the lookout. "Is that how Lack-Two felt when he left yesterday, Foongy?", the girl whined. Only the moonlight was missing to make it a perfect scene for a romantic drama in the Pokestar Studios.


	11. vs. Hydreigon - Everyone's Mission

Hugh led the small group, towards the eastern entrance of the Giant Chasm, just as Lack-Two had expected. After all, it was the place in the area where the least people would spot the remaining members of Neo Team Plasma while passing by, it had enough room for their frigate to land without being easily detected in some harbor, it could give all their henchmen shelter, and the cave was even easy to defend for them. Two massive grunts blocked the way in. "Okay, this definitely is the place. Let's beat these guards up, everyone blocking our path will go running away with their tail between their legs!", Hugh announced.

Their leader appreciated the thirst for action, he didn't agree with his words, though. "A frontal attack would be pointless in this scenario, since after causing an uproar, they would outnumber us even worse than they have in the battle of Virbank, and even then the sheer number of enemies has made up for their inferior strength", was his consideration. This lead to the conclusion that the only valid choice was an infiltration.

As he already started to invent a plan for that, Bronius appeared behind the two suddenly. "It is good now, we are all set here. Come to the center, Kyurem is ready, so we don't need guards anymore", he asserted.

"It's finally time, let's go!", the grunts were eager to obey their sage.

Remembering his superior had claimed that the old man in his fancy dark signature coat was the spy who had helped them get onto their frigate last time, for Looker this meant they had been granted access into the villains' hideout once more. "There's our ticket for the great show", he cheered satisfied, just as eager to get in as the blue-haired boy.

However, the superintendent was more cautious. "I haven't arranged this with Bronius. Either he has been watching us, which means other's could have done that, too. Or he is not doing this for us, which means Kyurem is actually ready for more attacks. Neither would be a good sign. Let's hope Magician sends us what we need soon. Until then, we must keep our guard up", was the warning he had to speak out before they moved forward.

The trio prowled through the cave until they reached the entrance to the crater. No enemies were left in the circular lair around the exterior surface, they had all moved there, which made it clear their targets would be found somewhere in the area as well. The sight they saw as they entered the place where a forest had been not too long ago, however, was not what they had expected. In the middle of it, the flying ship floated slightly above the ground. The soil around was thinly frozen by the sheer presence of the legendary ice dragon. All trees had been bent or thrown over to make room for the mobile shelter. The place was filled with fighters of Neo Team Plasma, but none of them noticed the agents yet.

Instead, they were concentrated on Zinzolin and Bronius, who faced each other inside of a big crowd that encouraged both of them equally. "Aah, I will say it as many times as it takes until you understand!", the man who had served as a spy insisted. Apparently he had rallied a lot of members still believing in their philosophy from two years ago behind him and attempted to start a rebellion against the new methods, now that it was the last chance to change course. "Ghetsis's real plan was to take over the Unova region, liberating Pokémon was nothing more than an excuse. If anything, what he is about to do will make Pokémon suffer!" A surprisingly large number of the henchmen listened, maybe out of respect for their philosphical leader.

Just as many of them, if not more, stood with the other of the two sages, though. "Oh, for crying out loud... You are a traitor, just like Rood. We gave you the chance to spread your ideals across the world, but you decided to join those who stand in the way of change", Zinzolin accused the one opposite to him.

Disappointed by his old partner's stolidness, the addressed shook his head. "You still fall for Ghetsis' lies. Change, yes, but only for the worse. I will stand in the way of that whenever I can. We propagated nothing but tyranny. If you intent to battle for one man's selfish aims, just because you want change for the sake of change, we will take you down", the spy proclaimed. He sent his only Pokemon, Amoonguss, forward to make it fight Zinzolin's Cryogonal.

Despite the type advantage of his Pokemon, the executive of the new Team Plasma didn't really want to have a battle on the ice created by Kyurem, it made him uncomfortable. "I didn't expect to have to fight hampered by cold like this. Well, no matter! The fact that I'm shivering means I'm truly alive." He didn't let it stop him, though, and gave the order for the first attack.

In the subsequent chaos that broke out when the followers of both sages started fighting as well, Lack-Two managed to lead his companions through the remaining woods at the side of the area. His goal was another gateway to the den in the north, where the freezing effect caused by the third dragon was strongest. It was likely that was where they had brought it, for a reason he had yet to find out.

Even from between the trees, it was hard to miss that the large mushroom took large damage from the foe's ice type moves, and it only withstood due to its strong defensive capabilities. Bronius wouldn't be taken off guard by this, he had known fighting the other sage wouldn't be easy. Brycen had been the one to defeat him during the League incident two years ago, and he was determined not to fail his philosophy because of his own weaknesses again. "Use Giga Drain, please", he asked his Pokemon. The attack allowed Amoonguss to drain its adversary's health, keeping its own stamina up that way. However, the Cryogonal had respectible special defense itself, and its Ice Beam simply dealt more damage than the grass type could heal.

For that reason, Zinzolin was very confident of his victory. "You don't have the sense to know when to quit, it seems. It's an act of mercy on my part to bring this to an end now", he howled. Other than his rival, he seemed to have zero issue with the pain his Pokemon went through after taking hits.

The battle took a slight turn, however, when one of the grunts around them used Sunny Day for their own battle. The light of the afternoon sun increasingly filled the glade. While the temperature didn't really rise, with the cold still being stronger, the leader of the rebels knew how to take advantage of the new weather. "Now heal yourself with Synthesis." With the power of the sun, the healing move worked even better, restoring the poison types power as much as possible. And its Trainer collected the necessary determination to continue the battle even when his friends could get hurt in the process. "Those who won't interact with Pokémon in a kind and honest way... I will never forgive them! I will fight you to protect the Pokemon", he yelled. His partner fired off a strong Solar Beam without any charging due to the clear weather.

The ice type used its own Solar Beam to hold against it, having the same advantage. With the moves being equally strong, they met in the middle and cancelled each other out. "Have you gotten stronger? Hmph, then I'll play with you now", Ghetsis' servant murmured, concentrating fully on the fight.

Sadly, Colress was not as inattentive as his henchmen. He stood on the deck of his ship, completely disregarding the infighting below him, and looked in the woods. As he spotted what he had been looking for, he held a megaphone to his mouth to make sure he'd get all necessary attention. "Superintendent Lack-Two and detective Lou Karr, you've earned my respect for coming clear out here. There is no need for sneaking around, Ghetsis wishes to face you personally." His words echoed on the high walls of the grotto, even stopping some of the people around from fighting as they looked around confused looking for whom he was talking about.

The young agent looked at the scientist warily. He knew he was barely visible behind the trees, and had only been spotted because he had been seeked out specifically. That left him with one conclusion: "Colress doesn't know you're here, Hugh. See if you can make it to that cave, we'll buy you time", Lack-Two whispered and pointed to the path in the shadow of the ship, which lead to the source of all the ice around.

Looker was very unhappy with what his superior was about to do. "Wait, we can't just go out there and face him, he'll capture us!", he protested.

There was not much time to ponder before the man in the white lab coat would get suspicious, though, the kid knew. "He'll send his army after us if we don't. One of us making it there unnoticed is our best bet", was the final decision. He stepped forward. Looker followed slowly, unsurely.

"Wise choice, you two. Friends, would you please lead Lou Karr to the venue?", Colress asked grunts nearest to the Interpol members in the moment another one of Cryogonal's Ice Beams finished Amoongus off before it could recover with another Synthesis or Giga Drain. "Lack-Two, if you will, I'd like to invite you to a cup of tea before you enter this battle."

The strategy behind this was very easy to see through. "They're trying to divide us. That's definitely a trap!", the older detective warned.

Lack-Two contradicted. "Too obvious, if he wanted to trap us, he'd go about it smarter than this. It's possible that they're trying to take you out before he let's me proceed to Kyurem, though. Watch every single one of their moves, don't let them surprise you." It was easy to say for the boy who wouldn't be surprised by anything anymore, his partner was less unwavering.

While they walked towards the gangway and climbed the stairs like they had done in the harbor of Virbank City, he kept arguing, even though the decision was already made. "I don't see how I should react even if I'm not surprised", his subordinate shouted behind him, but the two grunts who escorted him away once they made it to the deck didn't let him more time to talk.

Colress pointed in the opposite direction of where Looker was brought to. "This way, please", he said and brought his guest towards the northern way into the ship's belly.

Looker's new companions weren't that cordial. They almost dragged him through the lower part of the ship, which was filled with thick power lines and a number of billets for the members of Team Plasma. The detective looked around suspiciously, he wasn't given much time to get a good impression, though. Instead they brought him through a small camera room from which one could watch everything going on not only in the frigate but the entire Giant Chasm. The team had been spotted on the cameras, he concluded. It also allowed him to see Bronius' rebellion had died down after the lost battle. One of them even showed Opelucid City still being covered by the enormous ice caps, probably because the one this chamber belonged to wanted to know if anyone could break through them. "Who presides in this room?", was the question he needed to ask next, since no person seemed to be around.

The answer came in the form of the Shadow Triad appearing out of nowhere. "You have the honor of being in the chamber of Lord Ghetsis himself", their foreperson whispered.

Once he regained his compusure after their sudden entrance, the Interpol agent immediately got out his handcuffs. "Shadow Triad, you are under arrest", he shouted, not impressing the three, even though the grunts behind him moved back a little.

"It doesn't bother us a bit if you go after us. Even if we should lose, Lord Ghetsis simply has to win", the second of the shadows said unconcerned. "We swore to be loyal to him since he saved us. The only thing we want is the world that he desires. He wants us to lead you to him, so we will." The room had another exit, and the three calmly moved out of it, ignoring Looker's attempts to capture them.

Having no other choice, and the task to arrest Ghetsis as well, he eventually followed the foes outside. A thin passage lead from the opening of the frigate to the cave entrance Hugh had been sent to earlier. He had some troubles not slipping on the ice below him, which only got more as he got closer. He lost sight of the Shadow Triad as they entered the hole. Keeping his guard up, just as his superior had ordered him to, he did the same, his Croagunk readying itself for battle, whatever was waiting inside. From somewhere in there, a loud scream belonging to a Pokemon echoed through the entire area, louder even than the Drak Scientist had been with his megaphone. A thought came up in the back of the man's mind, this sound was likely the nocturnal noise the people of Lacunosa Town feared according to his researches. But one thing made no sense to him. "Why would you show me any of this?", he finally wondered out loud.

He reached the middle of the large cavern. A few steps ahead of him, the Shadow Traid surrounded a man dressed in a dark-grey coat holding a strange cane. "Because we won't let you interfere with Lord Ghetsis's plans!", the third of the trio spoke up. Suddenly, a giant amount of freezing snowpowder came down from the ceiling, where Kyurem had positioned to recollect its power. The officer tried to jump out of the way, but it was an unfortunate angle for him. Just as he was about to be covered by the ice, a large rock shot out of the ground and served him as a shield. Searching for the source of the protection, he saw a Flygon which had used Rock Tomb to aid him and flew in a position to attack the enemies in front of them.

Its owner, having fought his way past multiple grunts to get here in time, ran towards the agent. "It seems like this was a trap all along", he yelled. "Let's just blow the entire place up. They'll pay for this!"

* * *

To say flying on Zekrom with their Lord N was all of the former Team Plasma members' dream would have been an understatement. They were riding on the dragon's back over the clouds covering the center of Unova, and they were all over the moon. Rood flew next to them carried by his Swoobat, watching with a melancholy smile how the children enjoyed the flight. And he was leading them into battle.

Whi-Two got used to the height after a while, since the large electric type felt safer than the swan had on her way to Driftveil City. She knew their destination now was Lacunosa Town, since that had been from where the sage Bronius had last contacted their shelter. Foongy seemed to enjoy the ride there as well, spreading its tiny arms and playing king of the world. She liked the enthusiasm of her Pokemon, only the stern expression she saw whenever she took a glance on N's face worried her a little. Once they would arrive, they would have to fight, even if it meant they or their Pokemon could get hurt. Even if Foongy could get hurt.

Her indisposition didn't stay unnoticed by the sage. "Are you okay, young friend?", he wanted to ensure caringly.

Even when part of her wasn't, she didn't want to let it show. She would go through with it. "Everything is alright. I might not like the thought of my partner being hurt, but if this is to protect all Pokemon, I need to do it", she determined, thinking of the friends she had made at the Trainer School. She would be fighting for them, too.

"Very good. At times like these, those whose hearts weaken, those whose determination falters, can accomplish nothing. To save our old allies, to protect Unova, we will move forward", the wise man stated.

It was a little relieving for the girl to see he felt the same strength of will from him she wanted to have herself. "Yes, you're right. Let's restore the good name of Team Plasma", she agreed, and the Foongus made an eager face, being just as resolute.

They both glanced at their leader for a moment. "This is what he wants to do as well. At that time, we believed we were on the side of justice. By serving my king, I was going to make a world without war. But I was conceited, and I couldn't see the unhappiness we were causing. He feels like he is the source of this unhappyness, and that the war this new Team Plasma wants is his fault as well. That's why we can't let it happen again. This is our way to atone for our misdeeds."

The student understood. Her lord was so solemn because it was personal to them, and it was personal to her as well. Her Foongy was just as willing to fight as she was, and giving the Pokemon freedom also meant the freedom to battle for what they thought was right. To battle for saving the people and Pokemon of Unova.

Eventually, the party landed in the small village with paved streets and white buildings. The atmosphere was calm around here, maybe it had something to do with the rumors that had grown about a monster living in the area coming out at night to attack the people. "Where are we headed for now?", all the lower members wanted to know.

Rood looked around to orient himself, and picked up on the feelings of the inhabitants with worry. "Are the people around afraid because of what happened in the neighboring Opelucid City? So the reach of Ghetsis' ambition and malice is growing ever wider and warping the lives of all it touches." He turned towards his former king with these words.

"We need to hurry and stop father before he causes more damage", the latter concluded. So he gave his people the directions they were waiting for. "Zinzolin has been seen on the western end of the town near the hills of Route 12. But the stories about the monster in the area talk about it residing in a cave north of here. We will have to split up and search for an entrance to their hideout." Some of the members followed their sage to the first place he had mentioned, the others went with N to seek out what they were looking for at the beach Route 13.

It took a while for them to make any progress. Cobalion, watching from on top of a cliff because the known face of the old Team Plasma's leader had caught his attention, was almost about to lose interest and leave.

Whi-Two wouldn't give up, though. "What do you think, Foongy, where would we have a covert place two years ago?", she pondered. The beach was too outstanding, and it couldn't be too close to the settlement either. The small mushroom therefore hopped into the opposite direction. A small passage of sand ended at a large wall of rocks there. A thought came up in her mind: This wall was perfect for hiding something. Zekrom could bring them to the other side. "Lord N, I think I found something", she shouted towards her idol as he was just striding through the trees nearby. As he looked where she was, she quickly pointed towards the supposed rampart, and he understood.

* * *

Colress brought the superintendent down a long corridor towards the frigate's control cabin. At the walls, a lot of desks full of notes and logs could be found. In the middle of the room, in front of stairs leading to the steering wheel, the scientist had prepared a table with two cups of tea and a chessboard. He sat down and gestured for his guest to do the same. His Klinklang hovered nearby, presumably to step in if there were an attempt to attack its Trainer. "Welcome. I've waited to talk to you in person for quite a long time. I'm almost happy that you haven't been killed on the way here. Would you join me in a game of chess?", he asked courteously.

"Weren't we playing the entire time?", Lack-Two questioned while taking his seat, smiling in anticipation as well. In his mind, the wheels were already turning how he could apprehend his arch enemy, he knew that getting him out of here without anything getting in the way would be difficult, though, and even if he managed to do it, that would give Ghetsis too much time to do whatever he was planning. There was a high probability the entire conversation was meant as a distraction, but he couldn't deny that he was interested where it would lead.

His counterpart returned his facial expression. "That's an interesting way to put it. I think I'll enjoy this." He moved the first pawn. "I'm curious, how did you find our hideout?"

Starting to make his own moves, the boy took his time to answer the question and continued the game while doing so. "You chose a good position strategically, but there are a few clues you didn't care for. The first is that the resigning grunts like the one hiding your blueprints moved to the places that were as far away from here as possible. The second is that you chose Opelucid City as your first target. Of course this was because you wanted to prove your superiority by overwhelming one of Unova's biggest cities, but decided not to waste energy and be satisfied with the closest town of economical importance. After my assistant collected information about this environment, I figured this could be the only place suitable for your hideout", he explicated.  
As he ended his recitation, he took his opponents left rook out of the game. The figures moved on.

The _Dark Scientist_ nodded. "A very clever conclusion... You talk about the resigning grunts, so I guess that means you got the blueprints. Why do you try to sneak in then, since you could just break through all our defenses?"

This question made the other's face turn dark. "Your Eelektross took care of me not getting them. I don't need them, though, and you won't see that Pokemon again", the detective lied convincingly.

"You don't have them? Splendid! You will have to fight the Pokemon my machine controls with your own strength, then. To me, whether Team Plasma wins or whether you win will decide how the relationship between people and Pokémon should be, it will show whether you can draw out your Pokemon's full potential or us", Colress was happy to presage while capturing his opponents second bishop. The figures moved on.

The young man had to think about how to express his response, both on the chessboard and in the discussion. "If finding this out is your ultimate goal, you wouldn't have needed to cause all this damage in the process. You have willingly chosen to break the law for your science even though you didn't have to. That's why I will arrest you in the end." With these words, he guided his pawn to the field where his queen was surrendered. The figures moved on.

That wasn't persuasive enough in this case. "You underestimate the challenge ahead of you, I believe. But I understand if you want to arrest me, superintendent. What I desire is to bring out the entirety of the potential Pokemon hold. If I can accomplish that, I don't care what it takes! If it means the strength must be brought out by the agreement between Pokemon and Trainers, like your Pokemon agrees we should be brought to justice, then so be it. If it means you have to use a merciless approach, like Neo Team Plasma's, and force out all of the Pokémon's power, then so be it. And yes, if all of Unova is destroyed as a result, then so be it..." He paused and waited for his words to have an impact. "But right here and now, you're not going to arrest me and I'm not going to destroy you. We are here as equals, the better perspective shall succeed", the leader of Team Plasma suggested.

Lack-Two pondered for a moment. "You are willing to go so far for your desire. What is your fillip to try releasing the 'true potential' of Pokemon so badly?", he wanted to know. Every information that his enemy gave him, he carefully memorized, watching out for possible clues or weaknesses aside from his personal curiosity.

"Well, aside from a researcher's inquisitiveness and the natural wish to treat the Pokemon as they deserve it, which relies on who evaluates it, I'm urged on by the thought of how much good could be done with a Pokemon which has its full potential unlocked. An unbeatable warrior. Like every academic, I am focused on the practical use of my findings, it would be tremendous, don't you think?", he reasoned his actions. The man moved his remaining Tower to imperil his foe's King, so that only his queen could save it with a sacrifice. The figures moved on.

The agent was surprised by this statement. "Ghetsis will use the power you create to illegally take over the territories of the innocent and helpless. The practical use of your findings will be the conquest of Unova by force, making countless people and Pokemon suffer. How can that be good?"

Colress' smile returned. "My dear friend is just the one who offered to finance my research and put it to use if I help him in return. That Kyurem will be in his hands then is not a bother, it is still my machine, his victory will be my victory. And besides, there are wars raging around the world, greater and with more losses than our skirmish. When I manage to make Kyurem invincible, we can end these battles. We can avert the death of countless humans and Pokemon. Wouldn't that be good?"

Lack-Two did not mind his argumentation much, since the law didn't allow anyone the weighing of a life against others, the victims could never be justified. They would still be criminals in the end. Still, there was one thing in this statement that caught his attention. "So you don't support Ghetsis personally, am I right?", he detected.

"I detested him from the start. I simply despise how he is only dedicated to his own desires and his disregard of pure science or intellectual curiosity", the scientist admitted with a laugh.

The superintendent folded his hands, waiting for the next move of his opponent. "One more thing we have in common. If you loathe him, too, why are you working for him?"

"Maybe you're too young to know it, but one day you'll learn that sometimes you have to team up with people you hate to achieve your goals. You can't always select your partners. I have realized that you don't like your partner Lou Karr, either, do you? Ghetsis is the only person that can provide me with everything I need, so I have to collaborate with him", Colress explained.  
As his counterpart kept quiet, he continued. "One day I will be remembered as a hero, a legend on the field of Pokemon science. They'll think of me as a man who had the courage to sacrifice what had to be sacrificed to save the world. What will they remember you as?"

The boy smiled weakly. "They'll remember me as the one who brought down an evil revolutionary that exploited good men for his mad projects by lying to them about a perfect world." He moved his knight and overturned the scientist's king. "Checkmate."

The loser's smile dropped. He wasn't angry, frustrated or sad. He was compassionate. "I should lead you to him now. But take into consideration that if you enter this cave, you'll either win or die." What he expected was another attempted arrest, albeit they both knew it would have been pointless. The teacups were empty, there was nothing left to talk about.

"I'm ready", Lack-Two asserted with confidence.

* * *

When the boy entered the large, dark chamber with frozen puddles on the ground, he saw a mess. He didn't just see it, he felt it, as one of the fighting Pokemon was just using Earthquake. Hugh and Looker had decided to take initiative and fight Ghetsis alone. His classmate's Flygon, which had evolved in a battle against grunts who had tried to stop him, had already defeated Cofagrigus. Since Volcarona and Eelektross had been subdued in other battles, the two Pokemon on the sages team with which he had replaced them were fighting now, Toxicroak and Drapion. Due to the type advantage, both of them were thrown of by the powerful ground type move of the dragon. The older man's Croagunk had taken place on the back of the levitating Pokemon and celebrated the defeat of the other poison types.

"I was expecting exactly that kind of move. You haven't won yet, I want to see your faces at the moment you lose all hope", the leader of Team Plasma rambled, filled with a strong fighting spirit. He sent forward Seismitoad and his ace Hydreigon to finish the intruders off. "Seismitoad, attack with Mud Bomb, Hydreigon, make them burn with Dragon Pulse!"

His two Pokemon used the special moves, which would have dealt great damage since Croagunk and Flygon were weak against them. "Fire off a Mud Bomb, too", Looker advised his Pokemon. The two projectiles hit each other in the middle, exploding and barely missing the combatants.

Hugh couldn't do the same, cursing himself for replacing his special dragon attack, so he had to settle for something else. "Create a shield with Rock Tomb", was his plan. The stones shot out of the cave's floor easily, and the Dragon Pulse clashed against them as the ground type hid in their shadow. The beam was too powerful, though, destroying its shelter. That did cost it some of the power, but Flygon still wasn't happy to be hit by the move.

Before the battle could turn in the favor of the villain, Lack-Two called out his Samurott and ordered to hit Seismitoad with a Hydro Pump. It didn't see the blast coming, so the attack struck it hard, and in combination with a Vacuum Wave of the poison type, that knocked the foe out.

Everyone turned towards the incomer. "That blasted Colress let you through already? How fortunate for you", the sage murmured. "I have a memory that has continued to haunt me. Just one. That unpleasant look in your eyes reminds me of it. As I watched you snooping around, I could only see the Trainer who ruined my plans two years ago. But I have taken care of him, and I'll take care of you, too!"

That did not intimidate the skilled agent, though. "I am a superintendent of the International Police, and I'm here to arrest you. Unova will never be threatened by you again", he spoke as poised as anyone could be in the face of such a criminal.

A murderous smirk formed on Ghetsis' face. "Yes, that's what he wanted as well. He has defeated all my tools and me, thwarted my careful schemes. But I won't let history repeat itself. I am the perfect ruler of a perfect new world, and at the end of this day, Unova will be mine! Hydreigon, use Dragon Pulse again."

Flygon flew up in the last moment, but as it evaded the fire, it hit Looker's Croagunk instead, almost defeating it. "Strike it with Dragon Claw.", Hugh ordered his own dragon. The latter tried to come close to the adversary, but it kept attacked with another ray from one of its hands and forced it to retreat.

"Now attack it with Ice Beam", Lack-Two instructed Samurott. Since the energy of its opponent's assault came out of its right arm, it wanted to aim its left side, but the dark type started another onslaught with its left hand to redirect the ice attack, while from its actual mouth came more direct offenses.

Still, The detective looked at his subordinate, and he understood. "Croagunk, use Vacuum Wave", he reacted. With immense speed, it ran towards Hydreigon, withstood the fire that shot out of its main mouth and beat it with the super effective range move once it had a good aim. It couldn't stand the damage it took any longer, but now that the defense was broken, Flygon and Samurott were able to hit it hard as well, and the power of Ice Beam and Dragon Claw combined made the dark type lose its consciousness.

"What? I lost already? How irritating", Ghetsis snorted at his defeat. He wasn't as harassed as the high-ranking Interpol member had thought, though.

Hugh remembered the reason why he wasn't. "We're not in the clear yet, Lack-Two", he alerted, pointing to the roof from where Kyurem had attacked Looker earlier.

Just as he did so, the dangerous ice type dropped down on them, having had enough time to collect its power now. The man who controlled it with his cane stepped aside, his steps clinking on the frozen floor beneath him. "The Giant Chasm is the spot where Kyurem's power resonates. Here, it can use the full extent of its strength and easily cover all of Unova in ice, starting with you. I'll freeze you solid right here so you can watch my glorious ascent!" His last and strongest Pokemon took a combative pose.

The invaders imitated the action, preparing for a two-on-one battle, but before any of them could attack, a soft yet monotonous voice echoed through the room. "Stop your ugly formula at once!"

Neo Team Plasma's founder looked towards the entrance. "So you came. The freak without a human heart, N", he said contemptuous. A man with green hair flew in on a gigantic black dragon, matching the size of Kyurem.

"I spent the last years traveling around the world, looking for my own path, but when I heard what you're doing, I had to return. Unova is the place where I discovered the true beauty of the relationship of humans and Pokemon. It is the place where I learned to be a human myself. I can't let you ruin it", N meant.

Lack-Two noticed that Ghetsis hid something beneath his cloak. He added two and two up and perceived the villain's plan. "N, get out of here, You don't understand what he's up to. The International Police will handle it." But the former king didn't listen. On the contrary, he gestured his retinue to come in as well and block the entrance so nobody would get in or out against their will. The detective was concentrated on other things, so he overlooked Whi-Two's shocked face when she noticed him on the battlefield. Her Foongus had done a great job fighting Neo Team Plasma's thugs, but it had taken a lot of damage in the process, being carried by its owner to save energy. She almost squeezed it a little too tightly when she spotted him and Hugh caught up in this, not having any idea how they had made it this far.

The sage drew the attention back towards himself. "I don't know how to feel", he began to monologize. "On the one hand, I'm angered by your betrayal. Even though I was kind enough to find you when you were living in the forest with Pokémon, and take you in, and care for you, in the end you were selfish and disrupted my plans. On the other hand, I'm proud to see the teachings in manners I gave you to prepare you for being king weren't a completel waste. But feelings are for the weak. They are for those I'll soon crush under my feet. Anyway, I'm ready to forgive you for this renewed rebellion, since you were charitable enough to bring Zekrom back to me. With the combined power of its Bolt Strikes and Kyurem's Glaciate, nobody will stand in our way. I knew you'd appear if we fired ice missiles into one of Unova's largest cities and you noticed the change. Now that I don't have to search for your dragon anymore, I can use these." He pulled the DNA Splicers out from beneath his wrap. The item and the ice type began to glow simultaneously, and the latter gained its powers.

"Don't let Kyurem touch your Zekrom!", Looker advised, having heard from Drayden during his time undercover what the DNA Splicers were for.

But N still wouldn't listen to those who were outsiders to him, and he himself did not know it. "While it hurts me to order an attack on an innocent Pokemon, this is to protect my friends. Zekrom, use Outrage", he called. His companion stormed towards the target, unleashing enourmous power in its fury to boost the attack. The third of the legendary dragons didn't dodge the onslaught, neither fought it back.

As the dragons touched, a bright light pervaded the cave and stopped the former grunts from cheering for their lord. "Kyurem, absorb Zekrom with Absofusion", Ghetsis yelled. Only Lack-Two and Looker had the necessary gear to see in this illumination, so they were the only ones able to see the spectacular fusion of the two monsters that once had been one, and were about to be one again.

When the light got weaker again and the others regained their sight, they were terrified by what they now saw. Standing in the middle of the cave was a more than three meters tall beast that looked like an upright standing Kyurem with black body parts and an electrified tail.

"Yes, it actually worked", Colress cheered, pushing people out of the way as he got into the room to marvel at their creation. "This is the Black Kyurem, the pinnacle of my research, the strongest Pokemon in the world. What you see is fully used potential. What you see is perfection."

Few people in the room shared his optimism. "That's not perfection, that's a monstrosity", Looker growled in horror.

N had a similar reaction to seeing his friend like this. "Zekrom, what happened to you? I never would have believed that Pokémon can fuse together - That there was a formula like this..."

"Your beloved Zekrom is gone", Ghetsis affirmed. "The only thing left is Kyurem, and it is not more than a simple tool to my will, without emotion or thought." As if to agree, the beast let out a jarring roar, merging with the man's maniacle laugh. Everyone in the cavern was willing to fight, only none of them knew the capabilities of the new weapon, so it was hard to react or disrupt the speech of their combined enemy. "You are all fools. Last time, I was going to use N to capture people's hearts and minds to rule them, but this time, I'm simply going to use overwhelming power and rule with an iron fist. Do you understand? If you had simply become king, if you all hadn't defied me, Unova would have remained beautiful. Now, I will give you a taste of the power that is going to shape this land according to my will." He slammed his cane on the ground. "Let's show them. Kyurem, knock them down with Freeze Shock." What followed was an explosion.


	12. vs. Black Kyurem - Darkest Plight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick note to avoid confusion: In this story Glaciate is used as an attack that freezes its target, like Ghetsis attempted to use it in the game's cutscene, and Freeze Shock is used to cause an explosion due to its power.

Dark clouds spread across the sky over Unova. The outdoor areas of even the places that were usually the sunniest in Unova, like Undella Town and Nimbasa City, got vacated after it started to rain immensely. Residents affirmed that they saw a large green bird with long white hair and sharp purple claws as well as a flying blue tiger with a long horn on its head and several ball-like structures with spikes on them storming through the canopy towards the north.

Keldeo was headed for Terrakion's hiding spot on Route 22. Cobalion had already refused to listen to the young knight, and Virizion was nowhere to be found. "You saw it as well, didn't you?", its mentor asked when it saw the younger one coming, leaving out the greetings.

"Those Pokemon were very similar to the one I had to fight at that laboratory near the sea. They are headed towards the Giant Chasm. We are so close, we can't just stay here and watch. Will you help me to stop and free them?", the water type requested.

However, its counterpart had reservations. "Haven't you heard Cobalion? We'll stay out of the humans' battles", Terrakion said. It didn't seem to be convinced of this, though.

These words made Keldeo shake its head. "You want to let these Pokemon stay under the control of the evil humans who froze you on the ocean floor and tried to control us? And if we don't help, how long will they spare us? The scientist or the guys dressed in black will come back for us as soon as they are done with whatever they are doing in that cave. Cobalion thinks they can't include us in this war as long as we don't fight, but he's missing the fact that they already saw us. They think legendary Pokemon are their key to victory, so they will hunt us until we serve them. This is already our war, why should we let them come to us, since we can come to them as well?" During its words, the stormy winds grew more uncomfortable for it, which made it harder to understand. Apparently the two hostile Pokemon were rather close now.

The rock type pondered for a while about it, still it didn't like its mentee's intentions. "I can tell the emotions that lead you are fear and vindictiveness. You are afraid that they could go after us again, instead you want to get back at them for going after us at all. These sentiments will only lead you into the situations you are dreading", was the wisdom it had to pass down.

This time, the student of the _Swords of Justice_ had to stay determined. It was important that it would assert itself now, and not seem like it was acting only because of rash emotions. "Cobalion is the one who is afraid. The reason we are not allowed to step in is that they are not supposed to get us again. However, even if they wouldn't go after us, they will get others instead", it insisted. "We call ourselves the Swords of Justice, so we have to fight for justice whenever we can. You taught me to always protect Pokemon in need, how do you justify not protecting them now? We're not hiding for justice, we're hiding out of fear. I won't step in out of fear, I will step in for justice."

Even for its teacher, it was very hard to argue with that, it had to bite its lip as it found itself agreeing with the reasoning. "I can't decide this alone. We have to-", Terrakion wanted to establish, only a Thunderbolt hitting the greatest tree next to them and inflaming it interrupted them. The surrounding Pokemon, who had followed the dialogue with interest fled in panic.

"This is not the time for council. It's the time for action and reaction", Keldeo said loudly, unwilling to give up. The old master of the Sword watched the inhabitants of the area run. It made a face for a moment and then slowly nodded.

* * *

Meanwhile, the last group of former Team Plasma members who had made it out of the cave unharmed entered the security room aboard the frigate. Another lightning crashed down onto the mast, and only the lightning rod constructed by Colress saved the fugitives from getting electrified due to the large amounts of metal around them. They looked through the rows of people sitting on the bunk beds or leaning against the walls, tensely talking about how to go on.  
Among them were grunts of Neo Team Plasma that figured out they were useless now that their leader had his ultimate weapon, also there were some of those who had helped Bronius by executing the revolt, and they also spotted a certain young agent of the Interpol. Their own leader was nowhere to be found. "What just happened? Where's Lord N?", Whi-Two finally asked into the room, unsure of what had gone down the cavern after Ghetsis had ordered Kyurem to attack.

"He's probably dead", Lack-Two growled as neutral as he could be, or in other words with a lot of bitterness. His mission had been going well until the former king had arrived and everything went downhill, straight off a cliff. He was more than just slightly angered, he was furious, even though nobody would have seen that in his face. But he had to hide it, just like he always used to do it in such situations. He had to stay focused, he had to find a way to turn the situation around. Additionally, he didn't want to let it out on her.

The girl's face turned white when she saw him again. In the chaos, she had almost forgotten that he had been on the battlefield as well, now all the questions in her head returned. It wasn't made better by the sight in front of her: A large wound ran down his upper arm, and his entire body was soiled with dirt. He didn't wear his casual clothes but a black suit that was supposed to protect him from injuries caused by radiation. "Lack-Two, what are you even doing here? And why would you say that Lord N is dead?", she dared to ask, hoping these answers would help her with her confusion.

He sighed and fished up his back. "I suppose fate meant to be funny with us." Without another word, he showed it to her, waiting for whatever reaction expected him. He expected bewilderment.

He was right. "What? Interpol Superintendent?" Whi-Two couldn't quite believe it, taking the object from him and holding it close to her face as if she would have been able to tell whether it was fake then. She knew it wasn't. "I'm still dreaming, right? That blast knocked me out."

"And to answer your second question, it seems like your friend didn't learn what effect his rashness had, even after because of it, Ghetsis defeated us", the detective ascertained, starting to retell what had went down after the Absofusion of Kyurem and Zekrom.

* * *

The explosion had pushed all the people in the cave over who were in its trajectory. This included pretty much everyone except for Lack-Two who had taken shelter behind a rock, Hugh whose Flygon had lifted him into the air, and Ghetsis and Colress who had chosen a position behind their monster. The Freeze Shock had also filled the room with a white mist that impeded seeing the Ice Shards flying towards Team Plasma's foes shortly after. In the last moment, the young officer had pushed Looker out of the projectiles' way, since he had been to close for his own reaction time to suffice for evasion, but in the progress, the fragment had slashed the boy's own shoulder. He broke down from the pain that spread through his body, it felt something like electric shocks he noticed. Hugh had seen a bunch of Neo Team Plasma grunts running into the cavern after they had heard the explosion. They had been headed towards them, so he had wasted no time to lift his partner up, which worked due to his own strength and Looker's help, and they had carried him into the direction of the exit to regroup.

However, another group of enemies had arrived and blocked the way. Hugh had dropped Lack-Two again and called his Flygon for help. "Use Sandstorm now", he had ordered, hoping to form a path through the large number of foes. In an instant, the ground type had taken out the blockade. The detective had finally managed to stand on his own, allowing the older agent to concentrate on something else than assisting his stance, when the pursuers from behind had started to overtake them.

The superintendent had rushed outside through the part Flygon had created for them, moving forward until he had noticed his partners had gotten captured. Part of him had wanted to go back for them, but he had known their sacrifice would have been useless if he hadn't escaped, and his Samurott wouldn't have been able to fight through the enemy lines in this condition.

When he had reached the outside, N had come towards him, having run out to avoid the first attack, helping some of his followers out and now willing to reenter. "Where do you think you're going?", Lack-Two had demanded to hear from him. His voice would have been louder if the pain in his arm hadn't suppressed it.

"I need to help my friend Zekrom, I can't leave it in this condition", he had answered as he passed by, not stopping for the boy.

"Do you think you're a hero now?", the agent had growled, grabbing the young man's arm to stop him.

N had turned around, looking at the Interpol leader like this was the first time he actually noticed him. His actions and words had only confused him. "I am the hero of ideals who has been recognized by Zekrom", had been his response, clearly missing the problem.

The younger one had still matched his determination. "You're going to die in there. You can't do this to the people who believe in you." Shortly, just a moment, Team Plasma's former leader had paused. "You can't do that to her", Lack-Two had added, but not loud enough for him to hear it.

For a second, the green-haired man's almost hollow eyes had met his angered ones. "I am the one Zekrom has chosen to be its friend, if anyone can save it, that's me. I trust that you'll able to secure the others without my help." With these words, he had freed himself from the other's grip and run back into the corridor leading towards the beast.

"You're a coward, you've always been!", the officer had yelled after him with the calculation that hurting his pride was the most likely thing to stop him now. "You are afraid of interacting with other people, that's why you only bother yourself with those you can easily win over, which are mainly Pokemon. Those people believe in you, they risked everything for you. Are you seriously going to leave them behind?" Whether the lord had heard him, he couldn't tell.

Clearly, even if he had heard it, he hadn't cared. He hadn't turned around another time, he hadn't even stopped to consider it.

Suddenly, the agent had broken down under the pain of his arm again, feeling the paralyzing effect. Seeing that, Bronius had hastened towards him. He had already been on the way to the grotto after Zinzolin had gone in, too, forgetting about the other sage so that some of the latter's supporters were able to free him from the grunts that had been holding him after his Amoonguss' defeat. "Officer Lack-Two, I'm glad you're okay- Mostly okay", the old man was happy to see not all was lost. "Come on, I'll lead you somewhere safe." He had helped him up and brought him towards the frigate's emergency room which was now empty from Colress' henchmen since these were mostly with Kyurem.

"Has N always been like this?", the agent had questioned the former sage on the way.

And, having overheard part of their conversation, Bronius had answered: "Yes, he was always... special."

* * *

"You made me believe I have to show everyone that what I stand for is the only true formula for changing the world. Let me show you", N demanded as he returned to Kyurem's chamber. The Pokemon still stood in the middle of the room and didn't move. A more experienced Trainer than him would have known that it was recollecting energy to strike again, and that the necessity of this was the only thing that stopped Ghetsis from attacking the fugitive enemies outright.

The leader of Neo Team Plasma pulled evil faces. "You are no longer worthy of representing the one true formula anymore, which is my perspective of course, you good-for-nothing boy!" The two fused legendary dragons, maybe feeling the rage of the one controlling them, let out a loud bellow.

For the man who could understand the voices of Pokemon, it wasn't a scream of rage, however. "It's faint, but I can hear my friend. I can hear Zekrom's voice. It says they can be separated again", the _King of Nothing_ translated. The villains wanted to hear nothing about it, but especially Hugh and Looker, restrained by a large number of the last grunts who still believed they'd play a role in the sage's new world, were interested to hear this.

"You can say whatever you want. A Pokémon, even if it's revered as a deity, is still just a Pokémon, just an instrument for me and only me to manipulate and use to rule over the powerless populace, just like you were. You couldn't even do that, so no matter what you try, no one will be able to stop me!", Ghetsis hissed.

N ignored the words of his foster father, he was used to ignore the voices of humans and instead listen to their Pokemon. So he kept addressing the dragon. "I beg you, for the sake of you and all of Unova's Pokemon and humans, please-" From the right, a Thunderbolt hit N, disrupting his words abruptly.

The assault went on until he fell down to the ground paralyzed and in pain. "Well done, Magnezone, we better don't even give him a chance to try", Colress cheered. Following his gesture, some of his henchmen picked the body up and carried it to the place where the other captives were held. "We don't want to go easy on him because of your paternal love, do we, Ghetsis?", he inquired with a sense of reproach in his voice for his partner not acting sooner.

"Paternal love...", the sage who had adopted the young man for his schemes when the latter had still been a kid. "I never had something like that for him to begin with."

The scientist shrugged. "All the better. Now there's just one thing left standing in the way of a new era." Their living weapon clenched its right fist - not the left one since it was covered in ice. Maybe it was Zekrom in there making this gesture enraged over what they had done to its Trainer. Probably it was Kyurem signaling it was ready for the next attack, eager for the next fight. It had been empty for so long. It finally felt something again. It felt anger.

* * *

While Lack-Two told N's followers where their lord had gone, Whi-Two and one of her friends patched up his arm. Once they were done, he stood up and grabbed his classmate's hand. "Come on, if you want to have a shot at saving him, we have to think about our strategy", he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Wait, strategy? What do we need a strategy for?", the girl asked confused, feeling very much like back when he had urged her to participate in Pokemon battles or fill the Pokedex.

He turned around and showed her a seldom grave face which she couldn't help but salute in awe. It was so different from how she had known him, maybe it was what she had always felt in him. "We need to go back in there and fight Kyurem and Zekrom - let's give their fusion the codename Black Kyurem for now. Currently, it needs to recover, but as soon as it has its power back, Ghetsis will use it to usurp all of Unova. We have to use its moment of weakness, this might be the only chance we get to take it down before they load it into their cannon and repeat what they have done to Opelucid City", he explained.

"Then we should all go, the more of us there are the more chance we have to win", one of the male Team Plasma members suggested.

But Lack-Two shook his head. "Colress wants to demonstrate the power of his device to see whether he succeeded in bringing out Kyurem's full potential with it. That's why he will only send the Black Kyurem into battle against us if we come in twos. However, if we bring an army, he'll strike back with his own to avoid taking risks, and we can't fight all the grunts and the dragon as once. That's why it can only be Whi-Two and me. If we don't win, you have to be prepared to try next. Now let's go, time is of the essence." His logic was sound, so everyone in the room accepted it, and soon talks began who should go in after the Interpol agent while his classmate still felt uneasy about the whole situation.

He guided her towards the room where his conversation with Colress had taken place, passing the place from which the engines were powered on the way there. A large empty capsule had been placed like a battery, it was very clearly waiting for the ice type to fill the space. Whi-Two looked around cautiously, suspecting an enemy behind every corner. With her friend being an officer of the International Police, she wouldn't trust anything anymore, even though he seemed to be on her side. "Why did you pick me of all?", she suddenly questioned, nervously looking at the inner side of the ice cannon. "There are much stronger Trainers than me in our ranks. Do you think me and Foongy are the best choice for this?"

The boy stopped in his tracks and turned towards her, seeming rather bewildered she didn't know the answer to it. "Isn't that obvious?" He saw the mushroom make a proud pose to show it felt up for the task, its Trainer couldn't say the same about herself though.

"No, it's not!", she gainsaid. She turned slightly angry, which was something he had never seen her doing before. It surprised him, and he wasn't used to being surprised, so he just listened. "It was never obvious with you. Ever since I first came to the Trainer School, you've always lied to me. Were you spying on me all this time? I'm just a job to you, so why do you care about me instead of just choosing the best fighter?"

Lack-Two pondered for a moment, seeing the steps down to the observation room through which Bronius had lead him earlier. He decided against entering the control room and brought her down to the cameras instead, simply feeling more comfortable having his eyes in as many places as possible. Following his instinct, he grabbed her hand as he gently pulled her along like he had done during their time at school, and smiled as they entered the room, not only because he perceived it to be cute when she was mad. "You're overlooking something: It was my mission to get hold of the data stick that had been contained in your pendant. You only were a job to me until I got that after saving you from Hugh's rage. Afterwards, I had no reason to interact with you any further", he explained. "I actually was forbidden to", he added murmuring.

She heard it anyway. "So... You meant those things yesterday?", she repeated haltingly.

And he just nodded as he offered her a seat in the swivel chair. The detective himself sat down on Ghetsis' desk and took a look at the large number of screens on the wall to oversee the area. Not many people were outside anymore, they had all gathered either in the ship's belly or in Kyurem's cave. His intention was to share his plan with her, since of course he wouldn't have blindly chosen Whi-Two if he hadn't already come up with a way her Foongus could be useful to him, his rationality hadn't failed him yet despite his emotions, however something else escaped his lips. "You look comely in that dress." He didn't know where these words came from, apparently there was still something of his persona left in him when he was around her. He meant it, though.

Her face turned bright red in an instant. "Now's not the time, Lack-Two", she whispered, trying to hide that he still flattered her like nobody else had ever done. She reminded herself that he always used to have this effect on girls. That was the one thing she managed to adopt from her friends at the Trainer School.

Her counterpart nodded. "You're right. The time for that is long over", he agreed.

That statement made her Foongy whine, but she didn't want to think about it. "Stop playing with me, you know I never meant to-", the girl started, but she didn't know what exactly she never meant to do. Was it brushing him off? Was it making him hopes? Was it starting to love him in the first place?

"Mei, be honest with me, just this one time", he addressed her. The former Team Plasma member was startled as he accosted her with her real name, nevertheless he didn't leave her time to ask how he found out about it. "Why do you follow N?"

She knew the conversation would bring them nowhere if she didn't answer this. Though it wasn't like she could hide anything from him, anyway. "It's that he cares so much about others. I've seen him smile even in the most hopeless of situations, just to make those around him more comfortable. He taught me how to care for Pokemon that are treated rudely by humans, and why its important that we respect them", Whi-Two gave her best to elucidate her feelings.  
A thought came up in her mind, which explained her feelings for the boy opposite to her as well. From the start she had seen the same expression on his face as on her Lord's. A freak without a human heart to others, maybe, but still to protect others was more important to him than anything else. "You two are pretty much alike, I believe."

But Lack-Two shook his head unfavorably. He wouldn't get angry in her presence, but he considered that statement to be an insult, though he knew it was meant to be a praise. "I think you misjudge him. He might care about others, but I would call 'immense care' an understatement. He's obsessed. He sacrificed all of your lives in a hopeless attempt to get his Zekrom back. I agree that humans who treat their Pokemon like mindless tools are cruel, but they don't want to be seen as deities, either. We have to accept them as equal partners and friends, and nothing more, since they don't even want to be something more, that is the truth the Trainer named Black has fought against him for, and what he still has to fully understand. Reshiram and Zekrom are black and white, but the world isn't. His stubbornness makes him blind for different opinions, and thereby insensitive towards humans and their laws and feelings. To me that is very self-righteous and presumptuous, to an extend that he has to face justice for it." With this conclusion, he ended his argumentation, leaving her with a lot to think about. Once again, she had to remark that it was hard to counter his arguments.

She understood where he was coming from to some degree, still she didn't like to hear it? "Why do you despise him so much?", she inquired, feeling bad as he spoke about her idol like that.

"I thought you figured that out", he stated. "It's because he took the most beautiful thing I ever had away from me."

The melancholy tone in his voice bothered her, she was fine with him being pushy or grim, but this wasn't like him, so she didn't want to go there and tried something else instead. "Isn't there anything you can admire him for?", Whi-Two asked, hoping to save as much of her lord's honor as possible.

Noticing how desperate she was to accomplish this, he found something he could tell to cheer her up. "What I admire about him is how honest he is. I never heard him saying anything he didn't truly believe in. As an Interpol agent, I am often forced to lie to accomplish my mission. That's what I hate most about it, I would much rather hold myself to the standard I hold others to."

"How did you join the International Police at your age in the first place?", she wanted to know. His words had unintentionally managed to induce a great interest in his backstory in her.

"Of all possible things we could talk about...", the detective sighed, but her eyes made it evident that she wouldn't back down until she knew. This was the side of her he couldn't resist. They were similar in the sense that they would not leave the other off the hook easily. "When I was six years old, my parents took me on a long ride over the expressway that crosses Route 4. Out of nothing, a black car involved in a chase crashed us. My parents died in the process, but against all odds, I survived, and I was able to tell the police every little detail about the volatile offender. After they caught him thanks to my testimony, they let me decide. My options were joining the Interpol as the youngest trainee they have ever accepted or living in an orphanage." He sounded robotic as he retold the story, having detached himself from all emotions related to it.

Mei kept silent. She didn't mean to make him remember such a horrible event. Maybe in this very moment, it was sadder for her to hear this than it was for him. "I'm sorry", she finally apologized as she noticed he was waiting for a reaction.

"It's okay", he simply said. "I am satisfied with the path I am on now. I can do my part in preserving justice and helping those who suffer from the danger criminals like Ghetsis and Colress cause. So let's discuss how we will do that now."

She welcomed him changing the topic, since she wouldn't have known what else to say. Despite this, she didn't know what role she could play in defeating Neo Team Plasma's weapon. "Do you have a plan? Because I don't see how I can help stopping that Black Kyurem from unleashing its rage on us."

He stood up abruptly. "Rage is the correct catchword", he began laying out his plan. "Since your Foongus already learned Spore, it can use Rage Powder as well, right?"

The Pokemon on her shoulder hopped up and down nodding to signalize it could. "I guess it can, but how is that supposed to help us?", its friend wondered, not liking the idea of Foongy drawing attacks towards it.

"Both of our Pokemon have a type disadvantage when facing Kyurem, but considering how tall it is and how its arms are not very agile, it may have difficulties to hit a small opponent like Foongus, not to mention yours is unusually fast when it comes to evading attacks. That's why you won all the battles in the Trainer School as well, isn't it?", he detected.

Whi-Two got it now. "So you want Foongy to catch that dragon's attention while your Samurott attacks from behind", she pointed out, seeing through his idea.

"Exactly, that's our best chance to make enough damage", he acknowledged.

She knew he was right, and that she wouldn't find a better plan than that quickly enough. "But I don't want Foongy to get hurt", the girl mentioned her gripe with it desultorily, knowing how this conversation would end.

"If everything works out the way I hope it does, it won't be injured at all", the boy marked in return. "Besides, it's the nature of Pokemon to battle. It's their instinct to protect their friends. Just remember how it shielded you on the market of Aspertia yesterday. And just think of all the Pokemon that will have to suffer if we fail. Foongy wants to fight, I believe, and if you want the best for Pokemon you should support their wishes as well", he offered his perspective.

And his perspective was similar to what N had told her during their last talk as well. She sighed. It was impossible to win an argument against him. Even if he would deny it, she stuck to her oppinion that the two were not so different. "You're right. I want to do this as well. I have to protect all the Pokemon here, even if it means I have to battle", she admitted, regaining her conviction even after the setback, and the grass type was satisfied with her decision.

The agent nodded slowly. "So, do you think we can do it?"

Her face shaped in a way it did quite seldom: She was determined. "We simply have to do it. For the good of Pokemon and people, we have to win!"

* * *

It had finally found the source of the storm over Unova. In the forest at the northern end of Route 13, Virizion sprinted towards a crater in which three familiar humans dressed almost entirely in black healed two flying beasts it recognized as Tornadus and Thundurus in an analogical form Landorus had taken on, too.

The fighting type was about to jump in to attack them before they were back at full health, but an unexpected voice stopped it. "What do you think you're doing?", Cobalion inquired. Suddenly, it stood right behind its partner, having been in the area ever since it had watched N and his group enter the Giant Chasm from here.

"I'm getting involved.", Virizion simply answered, knowing its partner was against it but having made up its mind, ready to be stubborn about the decision.

Cobalion was a master at suppressing its rage, but it had hard times doing that right now. "I forbid you to do this, you know the reason."

"You forbid this because of a poor excuse", its counterpart accused it. "Not even Keldeo believed you when you said this is because these humans have to learn from mistakes. You just fear them and what they could do to us, what they already have done to us."

Insulted in its pride, the steel type raised its head. But even when it wanted to protect its honor, it was honest enough not to contradict. "Maybe I do. Maybe you should do so, too. You know just as well as I do what happened the last time we allowed ourselves to mess with them, and its better we stay in hiding instead of ending up being used by them again", it reminded.

Virizion shook its head. "You're only wasting time trying to sway me. In this very moment, Keldeo and Terrakion are on their way towards the villains' hideout. We're going to fight for justice, as we have all sworn to do, and justice is not stepping back while others suffer in our place. You can keep on hiding if you feel like it, but you will hide alone." Having said that, it ran down the descent and assailed the legendary flying types.

Cobalion watched the scene growling, fighting with itself over whether it should support its friend. The grass type attacked with Retaliate, going for Thundurus first, but the foes withstood, and Tornadus reacted quickly, following the command of the one controling it and stricking back with an Air Slash which knocked Virizion out immediately.  
That was too much for the leader of the _Swords of Justice_ , it wouldn't allow them to do anything more. "You'll regret this", it finally roared. But as it wanted to attack them with Iron Head, they suddenly raised to the sky and flew away from it, headed for a part of the cave structure further in the north. The steel type thought about following them for a moment, nevertheless it decided taking care of its friend was more important right now.

* * *

It sure looked heroic how the two young dexholders entered the cavern with their Pokemon following close behind. One of them was calm and kept staring at the Black Kyurem combatively, the other one was anxious and looked around as if searching for something or someone.

Colress shook his head sympathetically at the sight of them. "You should have left when you had a chance. You could have lived." He was happy that they had come by themselves, though, it spared him the trouble of seeking them out. His eagerness to test the potential of his Colress Device and the Pokemon it controlled against the Samurott that Lack-Two brought everything out of with teamwork for a common goal was higher than ever.

The latter had only his mission and no scientific findings in mind, though. "You could have gone free, but now you'll spend your life in prison", he returned resolutely as his Pokemon inspected its scalchops to be ready for facing the powerful foe.

"Come now, then. This time no one will save you! But to make things interesting, I'll give you a chance. Let's see if you can stop this Kyurem", Ghetsis laughed. "I want to see your face at the moment you lose all hope. I've prepared the finest stage, and it's wasted on a bit player like you. Lose and go down in flames!" During the last part of his speech, he looked at Whi-Two with a malignant smirk.

She refused to be daunted by the sage she had once respected. "Your words might have been powerful once but they lost their influence when the only thing they were meant for became your own ambitions. Even if you trick humans, the Pokemon will never be on your side again. You need a machine to keep them under control, you use and hurt them, that just shows how weak you have become, and you will pay the price for that." Her goal was to sound as persuasive as she could, following the example of her lord to defend against the intimidation and show him that it had no effect. Hugh and Looker just as the other former members of Team Plasma, watching from the sidelines where they were still detained by the grunts, were surprised and impressed by her courage, having never seen her like that before. Had N not been unconscious, he would have been proud.

But his foster father wasn't. "Excellent, that was a moving expression of determination. But it does not match my perfect calculations. Traitors like you will face the same punishment like rivals", the sage appended. "Kyurem, prepare for battle." As the dragon took up its fighting stance, the Trainers gestured their Pokemon to move forward.

While he was still speaking, Kyurem lurched backwards as an Ice Beam of Samurott hit its black arm and froze it in an ice block. "Use every second you get, Whi-Two", the owner of the assailant advised. He wasn't surprised when the monster just smashed its arm against a pillar thoughtlessly and made the ice as well as the stanchion burst.

Ghetsis didn't want to waste another second either. "Kyurem, take Samurott out with Fusion Bolt", he commanded, pointing at the target with his cane.

"Now use Rage Powder, Foongy", Whi-Two instructed her Pokemon, just as they had planned. As the dragon lunged out to hit the water type, the little mushroom spayed red pollen at the enemy. It coughed and turned at the grass type, engaging it instead, but missing the small target with the electric type move, like the agent had calculated.

In the progress of the fight, Samurott kept firing Ice Beams at the beast that couldn't stop using the Fusion Bolt ordered by the sage against Foongus, who evaded all the onslaughts. The stale man swore in the background all the time as if the Rage Powder hit him as well. But even though their Pokemon hadn't been massively damaged until then, the two young Trainer's noticed that this battle couldn't go on like this forever. The Black Kyurem was very perennial, and sooner or later it would catch the small grass type which grew more and more exhausted. So the villain kept looming confidently. "I can see through your scheme now, I can expect all your moves and the're not going to work. You should have never attempted this alone."

"They're not alone", Cheren's voice echoed through the cave. He entered the large room, and an army of Unova's strongest Trainers followed him: Skyla had brought Elesa and Clay, Iris and Benga were eager to join, Drayden and Brycen had helped organizing, Roxie and Burgh were part of the team, Cedric Juniper had accompanied Bianca and White, even Alder had returned, having waited for the group near where their plane had landed, to everyone's surprise.

Zinzolin laughed as he saw Cheren. "Well, what a surprise. My old puppet is back for an encore. Do you think you found the secret of strenght now, or am I supposed to show you?" With these words, he sent his Cryogonal forward to fight the young man's Stoutland, more than happy to have a rematch after his loss in the League Tournament.

Ghetsis nodded slowly. "Yes, I reckoned with uninvited guests", he avouched. "Under these circumstances, it's time to bring in the invited ones, Colress." The scientist pressed a few buttons on his remote control. With a loud crash, the ceiling ruptured as the attacks of Tornadus and Thundurus tore a hole into it, through which the two went in.

The gym leaders stepped back, remembering their loss at the hands of the _Forces of Nature_ two years ago. "It seems this will be just as hard as we thought", the mayor of Opelucid City growled.

Skyla was the first to react appropriate. "You'll take on that monster, Lack-Two. We'll get rid of these birds, flying types are my speciality", she suggested as she called out her Swana. Elesa and Brycen followed her lead, being confident in their type advantage of their Zebstrika and Beartic, Clay and Drayden did the same with their Excadrill and Druddigon while the others began engaging in duels with the remaining grunts, who relied on Pokemon like Watchog and Zangoose, Weezing and Seviper, Krookodile and Drapion.

"Well then, please bring out as much power from your Pokemon as you can. As I win the battle against you, the truth of my theory will be evident to all", Colress suggested as he symbolized the two legendary flying types to defend against those attacking them.

While Dorothy fought for its Trainer as well, White still held on to the Light Stone in her hands, pointing it at the Black Kyurem. "Come on, Reshiram, don't you see this? Don't you want to do something about it? You have to open up, please." Her words triggered no reaction from the stone, even though it vibrated a little when close to the other legendary dragon. But when she gave it up and lowered the item again, she noticed Lack-Two standing between her and the foe. "Dewott Kid?", she let out a surprised gasp. If nothing else worked, this could.

During all the fights that broke out now, said boy used the distraction to figure out another plan until his tactical mind came up with something. "Whi-Two, your Foongus has to attack Samurott with Giga Drain."

"What?", the addressed questioned perplexed. "How is that supposed to help?"

"Your Pokemon needs the energy, mine needs the strength", he only added in the short amount of time he had. She still didn't get it, but followed his instruction anyway, seeing that he knew what he was doing like he always did. Foongy regenerated its health by deriving it from the water type. The latter withstood only with limited vigor.  
Now the leader of Neo Team Plasma concentrated on his own stand, too, and Kyurem started attacking again. Foongy went on redirecting its assaults while the superintendent entered the next stage of his plot. "End this with Revenge, Samurott", he called out after the process. It launched the incredibly strengthened super effective attack when the beast showed its back to the water type. For a short moment, all the people in the cave held their breath as his Pokemon landed elegantly. Kyurem teetered, fell on its knees and eventually hit the ground.

Everyone on the side of the detective cheered loudly while their battles still went on, the tides seemed to have turned and Colress applauded impressed while Ghetsis just displayed the facial expression that was a mixture of impiety, fury and madness only he could perfect.

As Burgh and Roxie managed to free Team Plasma's prisoners, Lack-Two turned towards the scientist. "Kyurem is defeated, there is no scenario in which you win this now. Accept your loss and surrender", he ordered.

Colress shook his head. "I understand why you are confident, but you misunderstand the effect of my genius device. To unlock a Pokemon's true potential, I need to energize it. I may have lost a few duels because I was up against Pokemon with more energy than ours, a flaw which I needed to rework after Landorus broke free from my control. And while the energy of Kyurem might be spent now, the Colress Device still has a lot of energy left", he elucidated.

While he spoke, Ghetsis smashed his staff, which contained the part of the Colress Device that controlled the dragon, on the ground and then touched Kyurem's cold body with it, until it suddenly opened its eyes. They started to glow dark red like the stone in the aged man's cane. And the monster stood back up again.

Still shocked by this sight, Lack-Two commanded another raid. His Samurott jumped against Kyurem again, but this time, it reacted with Dragon Breath before the fighting type attack hit it. The water type, not having expected a range move, was hurled right at Foongus. In the process, it lost hold of its scalchops, and they spread in the room uncontrolled. As the Pokemon of the two students crashed against each other, both of them took damage and just barely held on to consciousness.  
While the agent's team was distracted by this scene, Tornadus and Thundurus managed to take all the gym leader's Pokemon out once more, which enabled the grunts to take the invaders captive again.

A bunch of the thugs tried to get hold of the Interpol member as well, but he was too strong for them. Only when he tried to keep them away from Whi-Two, they overwhelmed him. Colress stepped towards the detective and sent out his Magnezone. "You were a worthy opponent, superintendent Lack-Two. I will try to grant you a quick and painless death", he inferred.

"No", Ghetsis disrupted him. "This pest will serve as an example. Everyone who stands in the way of Team Plasma has to face a horrible doom. He shall be frozen solid by Kyurem, and not before he's seen all his friends face the same fate, especially this girl." The devilish grin reformed on his face as he looked at the former member of his team.

The scientist was greatly dissatisfied with this cruel method, but nodded in agreement to not cause an argument while he was at the brink of triumph. He turned away from the boy as the grunt holding Whi-Two forced her in a position where the dragon could easily use Glaciate on her.

"You can't do that", the detective roared. Maybe a bit of Zekrom was left in the monster, because it hesitated to assail the girl, but wherever this small part was, it wasn't strong enough to defy Ghetsis' orders. Several thoughts ran through Lack-Two's mind. Those thoughts were things he said to his partners during this mission. " _What's worth the price is always worth a fight_ ", was one of them. She was worth a fight, everyone here was worth a fight, they couldn't die, he couldn't lose. This lead him to another quote. " _Romeo and Juliet died in the end, which is something I don't plan to do._ " Now that he considered it, it was more than likely that he'd die by trying to safe her. And he was ready to sacrifice his life, not just for a law he was supposed to uphold, for what he felt was true justice. All he needed was an opportunity.  
Suddenly, something caught his eye. Something that would help him to stop what was going on. He ceased struggling for a moment, only to wait for the grunt to slacken his grip so that he could ram his elbow in the mans face. After freeing himself, he threw himself to the ground to evade the attack of two nearby henchmen which ran into each other instead. Being on the floor now, he picked up one of his Pokemon's weapons that had landed in this spot after it had been defeated, and with it he stormed towards the man that held his classmate. For a brief amount of time, he thought it would work, but an invisible force stopped him.

"You're not going to ruin this for me", Colress declared. His Magnezone used its magnets to attract the boys metallic belt. Slowly but surely, the officer was drawn towards the scientist's strongest Pokemon.

This would have ended the revolt, if Keldeo hadn't rushed in through the open ceiling at the right time and hit the steel type belonging to the man it despised so much with its Sacred Sword. While Lack-Two was freed again and proceeded with his plan, the legendary birds attempted to take Keldeo on, but Terrakion followed its trainee and stopped them with a powerful Stone Edge.

Meanwhile, the agent threatened the grunt away with his weapon and pushed Whi-Two on the ground, holding her tightly to roll off. Kyurem had already fired, and the Glaciate affected the thug that had been next to them instead, making him a decorative ice statue.

The leader of Neo Team Plasma growled grimly. "Fine, then I'll just freeze both of you. I didn't go through all the trouble of preparing this to lose now. You can get as much help as you want, no force can defeat my masterpiece anymore. You'll all die in here, and I don't care how long it takes!"

It was now or never. White let herself be inspired by the detective's escape, broke free from the one that had been holding her and ran to the center of the cave. "Your ambition ends here, Ghetsis. Dewott Kid, catch this", she shouted as two grunts blocked her way. The business woman threw the white stone she'd been holding in the air, where Barbara caught it and carried it over the men's heads, dropping it above the boy.

He immediately recognized the object from his research on the League incident and held it up. The Light Stone actually started to glow. "Those who threaten the life of humans and Pokemon alike must face justice, to protect the world from evil that tries to harm it, that is the truth I believe in, the truth I will fight for", Lack-Two announced as the rock reacted to the person it recognized as worthy of being a hero of truth. It left his hands, floated high up in the air and transformed into the legendary Reshiram, with a young Trainer riding on its back.

The leader of Team Plasma lurched backwards stunned. "How can this be? Not again!", he pleaded sotto voce.

Black stretched his arms and back. "Yes, finally free", he rejoiced while his fire type howled with the same enthusiasm. He looked around to scan the situation, first getting an impression of the Black Kyurem but then also seeing his friends and comrades scathered across the chamber, spotting White among the large number of people. "Watch me, Prez, I'll continue right where I left of!" With a smile on his face, he adjusted his jacket so that his shirt, displaying promotion of the BW Agency, could be seen by everyone, wearing it as a symbol of pride.

While his classmate, like most others, watched the spectacle of Reshiram's appearance in awe, the Interpol officer kept his focus on his targets, especially Colress. Predicting what the latter's next move would be, he gave his command to be one step ahead. "Whi-Two, you have to touch the Pokemon that attacked us on Route 19, quickly!" He himself got hold of her hand and started to run in that direction.

"I guess it's time for a tactical retreat", the scientist mumbled at the sight of the second legendary dragon as the Swords of Justice turned towards him. He called out his Beheeyem and wanted to be teleported to a different place by it.

But the agent wouldn't let him do so alone. "You're not getting away", his words echoed through the room as his adjustable handcuffs flew towards the opponent and caught his wrist. In the same moment, Foongy jumped towards the fighting type they had been headed for and reached it with its head while its Trainer curtly held onto it with one hand, her others kept by her partner. As they were all connected that way, when the psychic type used Teleport, Colress, Lack-Two, Whi-Two, Foongy and Keldeo all got transported out of the grotto.

While Terrakion was now left alone to fight both Tornadus and Thundurus, the Shadow Triad returned on the battleground, sending out their Lilligant, Accelgor and Banette to corner the rock type in hopes beating it could allow them to take back control of the skirmish. However, as the ghost type lashed out at their target with Shadow Claw, the assault was intercepted by the Dragon Claw of Iris' Haxorus. "You three still owe me a rematch, I won't let you battle three on one again", the new Champ of Unova decided as her Pokemon overcame the specter.

Shortly after, a Fire Blast fired off by a Garchomp hit Lilligant and knocked it out due to the type advantage as well. "You sure make a great team. But we do, too! Let's see who's stronger", Benga challenged the shadows, his dragon gritting its teeth eager to continue fighting.

"Our three dragons against you three is a fair fight, right?", Hugh's voice was heard on the battlefield, and not long after, the Rock Tomb of his Flygon captured Accelgor. "Just to let you know... You're about to feel my rage!"

In the meantime, the gym leaders and their associates healed their Pokemon to aid in the duel with the _Forces of Nature_ again, this time with the help of the member of the _Swords of Justice_. And above them, Black engaged the beast Zekrom and Kyurem had become. "Reshiram, use Dragon Pulse", he instructed the embodiment of truth. The ice type countered with Dragon Breath and then striked back with Glaciate on Ghetsis' orders. "Melt the ice with Fusion Flare", the hero used the type advantage of his Pokemon's signature move, and the destructive fire met the ice, annihilated it and spread through the cave with immense speed, hitting the foe and surrounding it in a circle of fire. "You better surrender now, Ghetsis, because we're just getting started!"


	13. vs. White Kyurem - Fight For The True Ideal

Beheeyem teleported its Trainer into the ruins of N's Castle, which had collapsed after the League incident and was now buried somewhere east of the new Victory Road. Beneath loads of rubble, one could still see the once palatial corridors. From here, Team Plasma had been meant to preside over Unova and oversee the liberation of all Pokemon. They were the ruins of N's ambitions, doomed to fail from the start due to the malicious schemes of Ghetsis. One could see the latter fighting for his own ambitions right now through a hole in the wall, as it allowed a good view on the Giant Chasm. Through its now open roof, Kyurem's ice and Reshiram's fire streamed out as the legendary dragons clashed with all their force, fighting for the future of the region once more.  
Colress' plan had been to spectate the events from here, but now he was more focused on the extendable handcuff that had caught his wrist. Due to the indirect contact, his Pokemon had brought Lack-Two, Whi-Two, her Foongus and the Keldeo here with it. "You're really starting to get bothersome now, superintendent Lack-Two", he complained. At the same time, he called out his Klinklang, which destroyed the shackle with its Charge Beam like it had done in the harbor of Virbank City as well, raising its special attack power. "Being arrested would markedly interfere with my research, so you'll understand that I can't allow you to apprehend me. Don't be too resentful when I leave you behind here."

He attempted to take the psychic type's hand to be teleported away once more, however he suddenly felt a light weight on his shoulder. Foongy had wasted no time and got close enough to attack with its rather unique Spore, putting Beheeyem to sleep instantly. "You've been harming so many Pokemon with your experiments. We're not letting you hurt anyone else!", its partner determined.

The scientist sent out his Magnezone once more when he saw his rival choosing Samurott, which had recovered from its previous battle by now. He couldn't help but smile. "Well now, if you want to show me whether you have the answer for my studies, I desire to see how you bring out your Pokemon's potential. If you're ready, come at me", it was his will to offer, though he hadn't expected Keldeo to immediately storm at his Klinklang.

At first the young knight had been confused how it had gotten out of the cavern, but once it understood the situation, it was filled by pugnacity at the sight of the man who had orchestrated its fight at the laboratory. It wasted no time, having learned not to give its foe a second in which he could plot a new scheme. The Sacred Sword it had learned from its masters dealt great damage to its target. Magnezone reacted quickly, attacking it with a Thunderbolt. The super effective move flung the aggressor back in the direction from which it came, and it landed on the smooth tiles at Lack-Two's feet.

"That Pokemon attacked us when we were out collecting data for that Pokedex-thing, right?", Whi-Two wondered. "Why did you want me to bring it with us?" She was rather afraid when remembering in which condition it had left her last time.

Kneeling down to be on one level with the Pokemon, he made eye contact with it. "Because the enemy of our enemy is our friend", was his reasoning. "You're one of the _Swords of Justice_ , right? Please help me, we both want to bring this man to Justice." His request was met with hostile eyes from Keldeo as it stood up again by itself, unwilling to trust the boy blindly, even though it could feel the truth behind his words. Suddenly, it was surprised by Samurott crossing its horn with its own. The two water types exchanged confident stares. They felt each other's conviction, they felt the same. Colress waited before ordering an assault again, curious to see how this would turn out.

When Keldeo and Samurott turned towards him simultaneously he applauded slowly. "You understand Pokemon well enough to make this mythical Pokemon join your side? In terms of proving the viability of your approach, you've done an amazing job. But whether you can bring out its full strength remains to be seen." He gestured for Klinklang and Magnezone to strike the now three opponents. "Let us begin!"

* * *

Bisharp, Absol and Weavile, all send out by the Shadow Triad to continue their fight in the corner of the Giant Chasm, were each honing their claws, using the same move to raise their attack's force while the three dragons of Iris, Benga and Hugh got into position for their next attack. The latter's Flygon went for Absol first. "Keep preparing your strike, but our claws don't need sharpening. Use Dragon Claw", he shouted to his Pokemon, which did as it was told, landing a hit with its first claw while the second one got locked with the target's blade on its head as it held against its opponent.

"Win or lose, it doesn't matter. We'll cause as much damage as we can so you pose no threat to Lord Ghetsis. Psycho Cut", the shadow hissed, and the combatant in direct contact with the Qwilfish-head's dragon started a counter attack, forcing it to fly back and bring a little distance between them.

Benga pointed at the steel type and turned towards Iris. "Hey, could you hold these two off for a moment? We'll show them our strength in a heartbeat", he announced. "Garchomp, Dig!" The second ground type on the field drilled a hole into the stone floor and vanished in the tunnels it created.

With one of the foes out of reach, both Bisharp and Weavile jumped on Haxorus, trying to hit it with Night Slash. "Defend with Dragon Tail", the new Champion of Unova asked her Pokemon. It managed to throw the first of the two back while the ice type's power was enough to break through, leaving a slight cut on the tail tip of the larger fighter.

In return, it tried to turn around in a fluid motion before the assailant could leave and hit it with X-Scissor. Still, Weavile was prepared for it, already holding an icicle in the hand it hadn't attacked with and smashing it into the dragon's face when it was close enough, making it tumble backwards. "This isn't the first time I am battling a Haxorus, you won't surprise me with that", the foreperson of the trio murmured.

Following the gesture of its Trainer, the steel type jumped forward to land a fatal blow, only to be stopped in the air by Garchomp shooting out of the earth and crashing into it, the direct super effective hit defeating it instantly after the dragon move it had already taken. "Don't count us out yet, we'll give it our all. No holding back", Alder's grandson said with a grin. Even with everything that was at stake, he still enjoyed the test of strength.

The young gym leader of Aspertia City could not call it enjoyment what he felt during his fight with the man he had last dueled in the Cold Storage. His Cryogonal had learned to keep its distance, firing Ice Beams at his Stoutland and shielding itself with Protect whenever the normal type came close enough for a physical attack that could have dealt a large amount of damage. Cheren had only a blurry memory of their last encounter, but he knew the sage had said something about Black and him being too strong for him and his goons. "Your Pokemon hasn't even evolved, how is it so powerful now?", he couldn't help but wonder.

His question made the Trainer formerly going by the name Gray grin. "You're relying on steady growth again? Back when I was using you, I could prove you were much more successful with a cold heart. My Pokemon doesn't need to evolve, nothing matters except for ability and technique. Since my technique is superior to your reliance on your Pokemon's feelings, I can use my understanding of your strength, defense and speed as well as my own to make the correct calls and right commands to outdo you." The normal type was frozen by the next move, rendering it unable to continue the battle. "Isn't it ironic that the approach you gave up on will be your undoing?"

Gritting his teeth, the loser recalled his Pokemon, but he wasn't down for the count yet, having other ones with him as well. "Maybe you're right. Evolution isn't that important here. It will be my Pokemon's resolve and energy that's going to melt your cold moves, your cold heart, your cold world. Snivy, go", were his words as he relied on his Starter in spite of its type disadvantage.

Zinzolin shook his head. "You can keep dreaming of your victory, but as long as you do, the dream will never reveal itself to you." Cryogonal wanted to move forward to attack the grass type. However, it was stopped by large rocks rising from the ground in its way. They were created by Terrakion's Stone Edge, as it incessantly attacked Tornadus and Thundurus but kept missing since due to using Agility they moved too fast for it.

These stalagmites didn't just hinder the member of Team Plasma, but the other gym leaders as well. Their Pokemon had trouble maneuvering through them and following their targets at the same time. Their moves kept missing, and Roxie's Scolipede as well as Burgh's Leavanny were knocked out by invisible blades of air Tornadus shot at them. "This isn't working, not with that Pokemon obstructing our assaults", the rock star complained about her loss.

"I don't care whether they changed form, or that they are legendary, we won't be beaten by them again", Skyla insisted. "Swanna, Bubble Beam." Her bird flew up to the level of the ceiling to have a clear aim for its water type attack, but the Shock Wave of Thundurus reached it up there as well, making it fall back to the ground unconscious.

Drayden's Druddigon attempted to strike the electric type down while it was still attacking the swan. "These two are very difficult opponents, and they're only getting tougher. We've still got some fight left in us, though for a victory, we need to combine our strength with that of this other legendary Pokemon", he pointed out. His dragon used Rock Climb to jump up the stones Terrakion placed rather randomly, giving it a good angle to strike. However, as it was about to hit, Tornadus stopped it with another Air Slash, changing its trajectory enough to make its technique fail and causing damage in the process. "Unfortunately, so far their teamwork is better than ours."

Luckily for them, Black was faring better than them against his opponent. While Reshiram resisted the Black Kyurem's Fusion Bolt, its Fusion Flare was neutral against the ice dragon, and its power only doubled as it met its counterpart. "Listen closely, I've been dreaming of this for two years now", Black proclaimed, and prepared to scream it out into the world. "I'm going to fight for Unova and I'm gonna win! Watch out, Kyurem! You too, Ghetsis! I will crush you!" On his command, the companion of the 'hero of truth' fired of another Dragon Pulse.

The leader of Neo Team Plasma was not very willing to be crushed, however. "I was expecting exactly that kind of move", he boasted, having his weapon use Dragon Breath to hold against it. The stronger ray of Reshiram made Kyurem's fire dissolve so that it only scratched the fire type.

At the same time, the fused beast could barely stand on its feet after having to withstand the super effective move. "We're almost there, finish it off", the young Trainer requested from his Pokemon. To his horror, it didn't move. It couldn't move.

The last attack, even though it had barely hit, managed to paralyze it. Ghetsis smirked maliciously, having hoped for and anticipated this development. "And once again, despite your superior power, I gain the upper hand with my superior preparation and scheme", he said, growing a little calmer upon being in control of the situation once more. "Kyurem, destroy them with Freeze Shock." Black wanted to dodge, but the white dragon couldn't evade or use its fire fast enough anymore. The explosion threw him off his mount, and the frozen projectiles hit it head-on, bringing it to the ground badly injured as well.

Seeing her friend in a bad position, White wasted no time to step in. "I told you I'd support your dream, Black, that's exactly what I'll do now. There's no way I let you lose!", she declared. "Nancy, use Heal Pulse on Reshiram. Amanda, please hold Kyurem off with Dragon Pulse", were her instructions to her partners. Alomomola wanted to heal Black's Pokemon while Serperior engaged their enemy.

Her friend was a little surprised to see her manage his battle like a stage performance, still he couldn't help but smile as he picked himself up again. "Prez... Thank you!" He had missed fighting, he had missed solving problems, he had missed traveling, most of all, he had missed her.

This help didn't change the tides for long, sadly, as Amanda's move wasn't strong enough to equal the raw power of the monster they were up against. Its Dragon Breath knocked the snake out of its way, clearing the path for it to bowl over Nancy with Zekrom's signature electric type move before it could finish its healing. "I appreciate your courage", the sage simpered, seeming satisfied with the turn of events. "For what is about to come, you're going to need it." His dragon used another Fusion Bolt to finish Reshiram off. When the illusion faded and it was not Reshiram but Zoroark that got flung against the wall, his smile faded. "What is going on here?" He remembered that he had seen something similar before.

The Trainer of the Zorua that had thrown itself between Reshiram and Zekrom two years ago to protect N from Black spoke up. "Even though its thus hurt, I can hear my friend's joy to help those who need it. For my friends who saved me, I will go into battle once more." And with its remaining strength, the dark type shot off a pitch-black shock wave with its special move Night Daze, hampering their enemy's vision.

Black knew this was his moment to strike. "You're going to need it more then us, believe me", he admonished. "Show them your Blue Flare, Reshiram." His Pokemon was back in the air above Kyurem, having used the distraction by White and N to position itself, and rained down its strongest fire on the opponent. In front of his eyes, Ghetsis saw his new word go down in flames.

* * *

A little further away, Samurott and Keldeo were still engaged in their double battle against Klinklang and Magnezone. The first of them had to withstand repeated electric type moves and was already low on health, since it tried to shield its new companion to the best of its abilities so the latter could use its Sacred Sword on the foes. Lack-Two's strategy was better than just having his Pokemon be a punching back, though. "Revenge, now", he instructed his Pokemon, and at its full power, this attack was enough to defeat Colress' first steel type. "Good work, and now Aqua Jet." His partner wouldn't have been able to use the super effective technique again before being taken out by Magnezone as well, however with Torrent increasing the might of its water type moves, the fast hit was not to be disregarded either.

The _Dark Scientist_ still wasn't too worried as he called Klinklang back into its capsule and his remaining combatant had to endure the assault. "If you think this loss is too much of an unknown factor for me to utilize, you are mistaken. Actually, it allows me to bring out more of my Pokemon's power, since I don't have to restrain it for the sake of its teammate any longer. Magnezone, would you please prove the validity of my theory with your Discharge?" While he was still speaking, the wave of electricity already hit both its opponents, beating the Starter and hurting the young knight at the same time.

Keldeo was very unhappy to watch as the Interpol member removed its fallen comrade from the battlefield. It lunged out to assail the one who had routed it. Unfortunately, it couldn't come close enough for the physical strike without being caught in another Thunderbolt which threw it back. "It's one on one now, Keldeo, please hold on a little longer. We can avenge those he did harm to together", the Trainer motivated it to get up again.

So it wanted to apply its Sacred Sword once more. However, the electric type created a large sphere of electricity around itself with Discharge now, making it impossible to reach it with the horn. "That's not good, its technique won't work if Keldeo can't hit directly", Whi-Two analyzed worried, holding on to Foongy which held back in case its spores were needed again. "Does it have any range attacks?"

Indeed, it had Scald and Icy Wind at its disposal, only these weren't very effective and gave Magnezone a window to counter with Thunderbolt. In the long way, that would have led to Colress winning the engagement, which forced the boy to reconsider his options. He knew there was a last resort available for them. "There is another Sword you know, isn't there?", he inquired, appealing to the water type to show it. "I've seen you use your attack from a distance in Pledge Grove. It was impressively strong, that's what we need right now." The addressed knew what he meant, and appreciated that the human showed respect for its masters' fighting style, especially for the style it had developed by itself. At the same time, it was nervous that it hadn't practiced it enough for an actual battle, only on people or objects that wouldn't fight back.

Their adversary had little interest in giving it the time to figure it out. "I'm more psyched than I've ever been. I can still go on, my Pokemon will show its potential", his enthusiasm showed in his expressions. Eager to deliver the results its Trainer wanted, his Pokemon went ahead and used Discharge again. Keldeo tried to move backwards, out of the move's range, but a pile of rubble blocked its escape route.

That meant the only chance for it to stay unharmed was to knock out the source of the electricity before it reached its target. "You can do it! For all the Pokemon we have to protect today", the girl cheered for it, seeing that it was tense and hoping that this could give it the determination it needed. Her words made the youngest member of the _Swords of Justice_ think of its masters, how they had saved it when it was very young, how they had saved so many who had been in harm's way. It wanted to fight for justice and protect those in need. These two humans fathomed its ambitions, they shared them. With these two, it would fight, with them it would win.  
Applying the new courage, it swung its Sword in a certain form, summoning a wave of energy and quickly determining its trajectory. This Secret Sword was way faster than the foe's move, and it hit Magnezone upfront before it could react, dealing super effective damage. With Aqua Jet having broken through the Sturdy ability, this was enough to vanquish the steel type.

"So strong", Neo Team Plasma's leading scientist was awed by the sight of Keldeo starting to glow after pulling off its technique, changing into its Resolute Form with a longer horn and feathers in rainbow colors within its fur. "That must be your full potential indeed. You brought it out by understanding and sharing your motivations as Pokemon and Trainer?" He took a few steps backwards as the victor lowered its head to threaten him, and ended up with his back against the wall, or rather the hole in the wall.

Now, Lack-Two got out his handcuffs again. "We gave you the ideal answer you craved. In return for showing you, it would be wise of you to surrender." His voice was very calm, almost robotic. The heat of the battle was over, he meant business now. For a second, Whi-Two was very happy that she had avoided this fate.

The one these words were meant for didn't seem too certain. "Is that answer my truth? And even if it is, what should I do now that I have it?", he ruminated.

"What you'll do is think about this further in prison. You're under arrest, Colress", the officer said, stressing the last word and having it underlined by his Pokemon's growl. One could hear the pebble from broken debris beneath their feet crackle as they closed in on him.

It was not in the criminal's interest to be apprehended, he decided. "You're an unkind person. As a scientist, now that I have the results of my research, I need to think of a way how it can benefit the world in practice. I can't do that from prison. I have to decline your offer", was his conclusion, before he hopped off the edge, out of the hole in the ruins and into the precipice below.

Whi-Two shrieked shortly at the sight of this, however her friend knew his rival wouldn't do that. He ran the last few steps to the spot where the man had stood a few seconds ago, and from there he could see him escaping on a Genesect with red armor. "I know that Pokemon. After him!", he shouted, pointing at him and grabbing the hand of his classmate like he had done earlier. Keldeo already used its Scald as jets from its hoofs to follow, and in the last moment, the two students jumped on its back to participate in the chase.

* * *

Everyone who saw Bianca sprint to the other side of the Giant Chasm trying to evade the rocks shooting out of the ground in her way was surprised by her initiative, as she desperately tried to get through to the Pokemon causing all the chaos. "Terrakion, you have to listen to me!", she screamed, jolting forwards awkwardly. Her Chandelure tried its best to protect her, even when its flames couldn't do anything in this situation.

Eventually, one of the Stone Edge attacks aimed at Thundurus came up directly in front of her, so she would have bumped right into it. Luckily for her, Clay's Excadrill wrecked the obstacle with its Drill Run before this could happen. "Still standin', are ya, kid?", the gym leader wanted to be sure. "If ya think ya can do somethin', keep doin' it. I don't know whether you can convince that Pokemon, but you decide yer own limits." Now the two foes wanted to stop the girl as well, but the ground type intercepted their moves, taking the damage for her.

That way, she could make it to the _Sword of Justice_. When it noticed her running towards it, the natural reaction was irritation, as it prepared to defend itself with its Sacred Sword. However, the Pokemon stopped itself, surprised by the sight of her getting on her knees before it. With that, she had its attention. "Please, we need to win this, we need to protect everyone here. Fight alongside us, our chances would be much higher if we weren't in each other's way", was her request. It heard her out, but it didn't react, taking a step back from her.  
She had shut her eyes tight in a mixture of fear and reverence. Since it didn't go against her, she dared opening them, making eye contact with the legendary Pokemon. Next to confusion, pugnacity and reflectiveness, she saw something else in there. "You're afraid, aren't you?" It snarled defensively. "Don't worry, I'm scared, too. I'm scared for myself and all my friends around me. You're worried about your friend, that other Pokemon that just vanished, right?" The addressed didn't know how it should react, which told her she was on the right path. "I lost my Chandelure once as well, back when it was still a Litwick. Back then, I had no idea what I should do, I was as lost as it was. But my friends helped me and I got it back. Let us help you, we'll defeat the evil people who hurt Pokemon together and get your friend back, you're not alone in this."

Her appeal made the experienced knight ponder. Her courage to approach it and the selflessness of her request touched it. And as Druddigon and Excadrill fainted a few meters away, it knew this was the time to act. The zebra and bear wanted to retaliate, but they still couldn't get high enough to hit. "This will take a very shocking turn if we don't come up with a way to dazzle them soon", Elesa analyzed as her Pokemon landed again, continuing to run with Flame Charge in hopes of being able to match their opponents' speed soon.

Bianca, having been in a good position to observe the events, came up with something. "What Drayden did gave me an idea. Terrakion, can you create the stones so that our Pokemon can use them as ramps?" On her suggestion, the fighting type used its move once more, barely missing Tornadus and Thundurus as they flew backwards to avoid it.

The two of them thought to be safe after this evasive action, which made them miss how Beartic and Zebstrika raced up the rocks, making use of the higher position to finally land their super effective strikes. While the former's Ice Punch knocked the electric type out, the latter's Wild Charge beat the other bird, and both fell from the sky. "This is the power you achieve when you're with other people and Pokemon. Their support makes us strong", Brycen promulgated, satisfied at how the tables had turned.

When the noise of the _Forces of Nature_ crashing down diverted the Shadow Triad's attention away from their triple battle, Hugh's Pokemon managed to strike in the moment Absol let its guard down and take it out with its Dragon Claw. "I hate to admit it, but... You're good Trainers", the owner of the beaten Pokemon said.

Weavile was thereby alone against now three opponents, making its type advantage less of an issue for them. "I won't give up. Battle for Ghetsis! This is the only proof that I'm living now", the one commanding it kept his motivation. The ice type jumped around acrobatically throwing Ice Shards, some missing and some hitting, still it didn't gain enough time for a stronger attack even with its superior speed.

Letting out all his anger to turn it into energy, the blue-haired boy knew how to overcome the enemy now that his Flygon was able to join the Pokemon of Iris and Benga in their duel. "Block its path with Rock Tomb, right there", he strategized, pointing at a certain spot. When the last of the dark types attempted to dodge another assault on it, suddenly it found there was a wall of stones in its way. It couldn't react fast enough and got caught by the X-Scissor of Haxorus, which pushed it right into the Fire Blast of Garchomp.

These combined attacks were too much for the weasel-like combatant. "Yay, we did it! Haxorus, thank you!", the young Champion celebrated their triumph. "When us three and our Pokemon work together with all our hearts, we have strength that knows no bounds." Her dragon shared the euphoria just like the others.

The shadows were now backed into a corner, yet even with their chances of winning being razor-thin, they wouldn't admit defeat: "Ghetsis' ambitions will never cease, so we will never cease to work towards the world he desires." They sent forwards their last Pokemon, a Liepard looking very aggressively at the ones it was supposed to fight. However, when its eyes met those of Hugh, it stopped and stiffened suddenly.

"That Pokemon-", the student from Aspertia City reacted with astonishment. "It can't be..." And everyone else was astonished when he carefully walked towards it. The dark type eyed him unsteadily, maybe a little angrily, but it didn't attack. "Where have you got it from?", he demanded to learn.

Its current Trainer raised an eyebrow, starting to get an idea what was going on. "It was stolen by Team Plasma five years ago in Aspertia. Stolen from you, wasn't it? It only listens to my commands now. Such is the fate of Pokemon that are trapped in these balls", he tried to taunt the kid.

But the latter wouldn't take it: "Don't mess with me. They stole it from my sister when it was still a Purrloin. I won't leave it with villains like you, give it back!" The Liepard turned its head between the two parties, unsure about what to do.

Seeing how it didn't fight, the Shadow Triad had no big interest in it anymore, focusing instead on the psychological damage they could do with it. They had been working with Ghetsis after all. "Ah... I feel sorry for Pokemon. They're ruled by such items and the whims of their Trainers... Lord Ghetsis spoke of Pokemon liberation two years ago simply for his own ambitions, but... If his plans had succeeded, many Pokemon would have been saved. This Liepard - well, you knew it as a Purrloin - if it had been released, it might have returned to you. So your sister could have been happier if we won, don't you think?", he philosophized, buying time by continuing to talk for as long as he could and making dramatic pauses, whether they were intended to be dramatic or not.

As Hugh sank to his knees in front of the slender cat trying to wrap his head around the situation, they were satisfied. "I fought so hard to finally find my sister's Pokemon, but now it's glaring at me- Why? What should I do now?", he questioned, staring into the eyes that stared at him.

Nobody could see it behind their black masks, still it wasn't far-fetched to say the shadows were smiling now. "I'll return this Pokemon to you. I have no further need of it", the holder of the dark type stated, putting the capsule that had been robbed on the ground in front of him. The distraction worked for long enough, and the trio used their tricks to vanish again.

A little further away, Snivy desperately kept just barely avoiding Cryogonal's Ice Beams, trying to tackle it but - like Stoutland before it - only hitting its shield. "We need a way to hit it before it can use Protect again", Cheren devised a plan. "Do you think you can withstand one hit? We need the experience." His Pokemon was confident, leaping forward and using Leaf Tornado to twist around and create small leaves whirling around it. The move left it vulnerable to its opponent's super effective rays, so it gave its best to not fall to the Signal Beam, which the ice type chose to not be hindered by the foliage and freeze it instead of the actual target.

Zinzolin was convinced that once he finally dealt super effective damage successfully, the duel was as good as over. "You won't get that much stronger in such a brief amount of time", he prognosticated. His facial expression only changed when he saw a shining white color break through the motley shimmer of the bug type move.

The teacher's trust in his first Pokemon paid off, as it evolved like it had waited for so long, and when both the lights of the snowflake's attack and the transformation went out, at the middle of the Leaf Tornado was a Servine ready to strike back. Cryogonal reflexively put up its shield, however the foliage still flying around broke it. With that defense down, there was a clear window for the grass types offense. "Leaf Blade, now", was the final command its Trainer gave, and using the spin of the previous movements, it managed to land a critical hit with the physical charge. Its opponent, worn out by the duels against Amoonguss and Stoutland, was unable to endure it. "Yes, great work, Sni- uh, Servine, we did it! Does this prove sufficiently the strength that lies in the trust and resolve humans and Pokemon share, Zinzolin?"

"That caught me off guard indeed, I'm still shivering", the defeated sage stuttered. The cold Kyurem emitted seemed to affect him now that the adrenaline decreased. "Your accomplishments and skill make you a worthwhile enemy. But it doesn't matter, Team Plasma will get the last laugh!" He looked through the chamber to see how the _Forces of Nature_ , the Shadow Triad and Ghetsis were doing, and only then he realized how alone he was.

* * *

Genesect was a fast Pokemon, Lack-Two knew that from his last skirmish with the armored bug in Aspertia City. Keldeo was the faster Pokemon, he could tell from how it slowly caught up with Colress. And said man noticed this as well, being forced to using more of his tricks. "It seems your pace is becoming an inconvenience for us. Genesect, go faster with Extreme Speed", he ordered his ride, kneeling down completely and holding on tightly to not fall off. With this move, he could create a larger distance between him and their pursuers.

Whi-Two reacted instinctively, holding on tighter herself, not noticing that she wrapped her arms around her classmate in the process. "We need to get close enough somehow! Keldeo, do you know an attack that can slow them down?", she inquired, thinking about what other Pokemon of its type would learn like they had learned at Trainer School and coming up with something: "Lower their speed with Icy Wind, please!" And indeed, the young knight knew Icy Wind, blowing frosty air towards their targets. While the scientist shivered, his last Pokemon wasn't too bothered since the ice wasn't very effective against it. However, some of it froze up its gears and drive, making it harder to keep up its current velocity.

Now that the gap between the parties closed again and the priority move didn't make much difference anymore, the superintendent got out the Luxury Balls Magician had prepared for him again, throwing them at Genesect like he had done last time. Despite his noteworthy aim, his tosses missed, but as was to be expected with him, that was calculated. "The evasive maneuvers will cost them some time, we should be next to them before we're above the Giant Chasm", he informed his partner with a very focused voice. His prediction proved to be correct not long after. "Now is the moment", was his warning as he leaned over to touch the steel type with his Luxury Ball and capture it.

But the capsule didn't react to it. "What is this? Did you really think I would let you defeat me that way a second time after you have spoken ill about my machine?", the leader of Neo Team Plasma said with a smug smile. "Other than the first one you fought, this Genesect is a Pokemon I raised and bonded with after putting it in a Luxury Ball myself back when I explored the validity of the common approach to unlock my Pokemon's potential by participating in the League Tournament. You won't be able to capture it, and you won't capture me either!" After ending his detailed explanation, he kicked after the Interpol Member, making enough room for his bug to use Extreme Speed again and bring its rightful Trainer to a safe distance.

Had he been alone, this could have been the loss for Lack-Two. Only he wasn't alone. "When I said now is the moment, I didn't mean the moment for me to catch your Genesect", the boy clarified, speaking loudly so his rival would hear him. "I spoke ill about your machine on purpose to make you take certain actions back then, so I figured you would work on preventing the same outcome. You have to know, though, that capturing it yourself left you with an even greater weakness. Because nothing is better to imprison a Pokemon..." And he let the girl behind him end the sentence for him.

She held up the Luxury Ball she had snatched from Colress' belt on her partner's cue while the flying Pokemon had been next to each other. "...Than these capsules!", she finished, watching their enemy's face fall. To make sure he wouldn't fall himself, he quickly lowered his flight altitude, knowing what was about to happen. Whi-Two recalled Genesect, and he dropped the last meter to the ground, rolling a short bit because of the speed he had, then he remained lying, too exhausted to get up. He was aware running was pointless now.

Keldeo landed next to him on one of the few spots in the crater of the Giant Chasm that wasn't covered by ice and snow yet, lowering its head to look at the man that had caused it and so many others harm, though not with a glare but with a triumphant expression. Working together as humans and Pokemon, they had won, and justice would be served now. Lack-Two got out his last set of handcuffs and finally applied them. "I'll deliver you to the Interpol headquarters so they can decide your punishment for your involvement with Team Plasma", were his words as he carried out the arrest he had been awaiting for so long.

"Getting involved with Team Plasma was a mistake", the _Dark Scientist_ admitted. "Your approach to bring out the full potential of your Pokemon was right, and theirs wasn't. Maybe if I had believed more, I could have drawn out my Pokemon's power. Now I have to admit defeat." Still, his smile returned, though weaker than before. "Anyways, I found the answer I've been looking for. Yes, I'm glad you won. Losing isn't that bad if it is to you."

The ringing of the officer's communication device prevented them from further chatting. "Lack-Two here", he answered the call immediately, knowing whom it would be from.

Magician's voice came from the other end: "It's me, I finally finished the machine that can counteract the effect of the Colress Device and free the Pokemon from its influence. I already sent Corphish your location, has it found you yet?" His tone carried a lot of pride and mettle due to his achievement.

"Superintendent!", Looker's voice was audible in the entire area as he sprinted towards his superior, the tiny water type following him. "I've been looking everywhere for you. The Pokemon Magician sends his deliveries with appeared, but you were nowhere to be found after you vanished with Colress." He suppressed the need to pant from running around so much to keep his composure in front of the boy.

Lack-Two stepped aside to let him see the seized scientist. "That's taken care of now, thanks to some help." While saying this, he pointed at Whi-Two. "Thank you for your efforts, Looker. Would you bring our prisoner to a secure location until we can transfer him to headquarters? In the meantime, I'll reverse the control Ghetsis has over Kyurem with this and arrest him once the fighting inside is over", he assigned their new tasks. His subordinate nodded eagerly and got to work, so he turned back to his manager. "Can you give me a quick introduction to how your invention works?" Corphish held up the item, which looked almost exactly like the thing it was meant to combat.

The addressed was happy to explain. "It's programmed to send a signal through the same range that its counterpart has, and overwrites the frequency to prevent it from affecting any Pokemon. You have to bring it close to either the machine controlling the target or close to the target itself, then it should work." The smile never left his face as he could talk about his success.

It satisfied his client as well. "Perfect. You'll be hearing from me when the job is done, then", he concluded. "Just one more thing. We've gotten hold of another Genesect, apparently Colress had two. You can help it like you helped the first one, right?" With that, he turned to his classmate, who was still holding the capsule.

She was surprised to hear about his intention. "He has helped another one of these Pokemon?", she asked to be sure, looking at what she was holding with uncertain feelings. After having rejected this kind of item for so long, it was weird to look at it now at something that would be good for the Pokemon inside.

He gave her one of his heartwarming smiles that he could pull off in any situation, no matter how scarred his face was, and at that moment scarred was an understatement. And she just couldn't resist it. "Of course we're helping them. Stopping those who want to harm others and protect those they threaten, that is our job, that is the justice we devote ourselves to." She heard his words and saw his smile and in her mind she still thought how similar he was to N, but now she also understood his approach to what he was doing was just as valid as what her Lord had been doing. Reshiram and Zekrom had accepted them both because of their good intentions, and she wondered whether truth and ideals always had to be at odds.

The young manager brought her back from the realm of thoughts. "You can place that Luxury Ball in the claw of Corphish, it can bring it to me when it comes back", he told her. She faced the water type and knelt down to be on eye level, and it seemed zealous to assist. Foongy said something to it, and it clattered with its claws happily in response. Whi-Two couldn't help but smile at it and trust that its Trainer treated it well. He would treat the Genesect well, too. So she did as she had been asked to and handed the capsule over. "Thank you, I'm happy to have your trust. Much success for your battle, you two." Saying these words, Magician ended the call and his Pokemon rushed towards the exit.

Now that Colress and his machine were taken care of by Lack-Two's accomplices, the duo hurried to get back into the part of the cave system where the fighting was taking place, with Keldeo following them and meeting up with Terrakion once inside. Skyla and Elesa were just throwing Timer Balls at the two flying types on the ground. "I've been waiting for a chance to capture a legendary electric type like you for years now, it's time to make that dream from my youth come true", the latter expressed her joy as the two stayed inside the items. With the _Forces of Nature_ , Zinzolin and most of the grunts having been dealt with, Ghetsis was quite literally forced into a corner.

Reshiram's continuous Dragon Pulse assaults eventually were too much for Kyurem, which had already been too weakened to defend or counter any further, making it fall to the ground close to fainting. "How can this be? I am the one who created Team Plasma. I'm perfect! I'm the absolute ruler who will change the world!", the leader of Neo Team Plasma clamored aghast. "I can't lose to some unknown Trainer not just once, but twice!" He swung his cane wildly, trying to move his tool to somehow continue battling, but to no avail.

Black took a stand in front of him, clenching his fists determined and looking straight into the furious eyes of the maniacal man. "Back when I first saw you in Accumula Town, you were holding a speech about Pokemon liberation. To be honest, I didn't agree with a single word you said, and I hated what it did to the people and Pokemon around you. But I will ask you now what you asked us back then: I beg you to reconsider your relationship with Pokemon", he threw the sage's own words back at him.

But he still wouldn't listen. "How can a random Trainer from who knows where dare use my speeches against me? You can't even use Pokemon correctly", he hissed, now violently hitting the ice type with the staff that held the device controlling it.

N stepped forward and positioned himself next to his former rival now, unable to watch the person who had raised him treat the beast they had fought like this. It was still just two Pokemon, and they had suffered enough from him. "It's hard to call you this, but… Father! Please understand, Pokemon are not tools. They can reach even greater heights if they work together with humans in piece. They are our wonderful partners. Some humans understand this. Why can't you?", was his heartfelt appeal.

"Shut your mouth!", Ghetsis reacted, losing all the remaining composure he might have had. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! Don't talk about humans like this. Don't talk like a person, you freak! No real person could talk to Pokemon", he accused. Probably he would have continued his outburst, had he not interrupted by the weird noise of Kyurem separating from Zekrom again, setting the black dragon free and returning to the form it had before it consumed the other.

The Pokemon that had fought on N's side looked just as exhausted as the one it had fused with. Nonetheless, its rightful Trainer was overjoyed by the sight and ran towards it. "Zekrom, you're alright", he exulted.

White however was rather skeptical, since this reminded her an awful lot of something else. "Wait, N, I believe it's going to-", she wanted to warn, only when their enemy shoved Black against her that stopped her from finishing the sentence.

Slowly, Zektrom reverted back into the Dark Stone to rest, and just like when Reshiram did it two years ago, this created a suction, and when the green-haired young man noticed what was going on, it was already too late for him to escape the pull to his friend. "Serves you right, I would have expected the education I was so kind to provide you with to prevent you from falling for the same trick", Ghetsis spoke, his refined phrasing undercut by his mad laugh.

This was the moment in which Lack-Two and Whi-Two joined the scene. While the latter was shocked to see what was happening to her lord, the former wouldn't be distracted from his mission. "You have nothing to laugh about, Ghetsis, your control over Kyurem is gone now, you're under arrest!", he proclaimed loudly. With Magician's machine working the way it was supposed to, the third legendary dragon was freed from the signal that had controlled it, and turned its head towards the one who had used it and put it through all this.

The glare of the addressed met his unwavering expression, and the angry glance of his monster. "I'm surrounded by fools and freaks who cannot understand the perfection of my schemes and actions. You disgust me! Victory only suits perfect leaders such as myself. You should be cowering in fear and burn, I should reign supreme above all existence! Why are you insisting on interfering with my plans?" He stepped backwards as the superintendent was closing in on him, raving inexorably.

As he got louder in his deranged state and his words echoed through the cavern, the Shadow Triad appeared again, surrounding their master ready to take him to safety. "Lord Ghetsis has... lost control... We'll take it from here... Farewell...", their foreperson whispered.

After his last encounter with the trio, the Interpol agent had anticipated their appearance, though, and brought the other item his manager had prepared for him after their first infiltration of the frigate out from behind his back. "Not so fast, you three will be coming with me as well." When he threw it at the four criminals before they could react, it sprayed condensed Stun Spores all over them, paralyzing the ninjas and making them unable to move, let alone use their techniques.

With the leader of Neo Team Plasma unable to move his lips, the cave got much calmer. The struggle was over, the war was won, the fighting had ceased. For a moment, everyone breathed easily. "Black! You're back!", Bianca's shouting disrupted the new peace, echoing from the walls along with the loud sound of her fast steps towards the young man, whom she eventually reached and ran into. "Never disappear like that again!" She hugged her childhood friend tightly after falling over together with him, making up for all the hugs she couldn't have during the last two years.

The latter was overwhelmed by her, even when he knew her natural enthusiasm. "I won't, I promise." He couldn't help but smile. "There's so many people, Pokemon, places, events and things to do that I never want to miss again." When she squeezed him a little and he started to feel limited in his freedom of movement once more, he saw himself moved to supplement this. "And I don't want to make you miss me again either, of course-"

"Give Black some room to breath, Bianca. He's just been trapped inside this stone, he should have a little more latitude now", White came to his rescue, helping the two of them to get up again.

At her words, the girl with the green hat felt a little more bashful. "Oh, all righty, it just makes me very happy", she simpered as she got back on her feet.

The first 'hero of truth' took his business partner's hand to stand up, only to then be immediately hugged tightly by her in turn. At least she didn't make him fall over. He blushed deeply at her gesture, not knowing how to react for a few seconds before he finally hugged her back, and it felt like a great relief to be able to do this. "Hey now, Prez, I missed you, too", he let out a small chuckle, enjoying the moment. He hoped this wouldn't be a one-time thing because of his liberation, and he could tell from how she held him that it was the same for her, and the minute felt like an eternity.  
Cheren watched them feeling very awkward, brushing his hair with one hand while his Servine twitched its foot impatiently. He still had no idea how he could approach his friend after how he had behaved when they had last seen each other, but there was no way to avoid it now. And while he still attempted to devise a detailed plan in his mind, his starter wouldn't wait any longer and just jumped forward in front of Black, who was still in White's arms, to get his attention. "Woah, you've certainly grown", the Trainer said as he recognized his rival's Pokemon.

It's owner had no choice but to join it now. "It seems like you were right after all in how I had to let it fight more confidently", he admitted with a sheepish smile.

As his boss let go of him again, the addressed grinned back at him. "I learned a few things from your tactics for my battle with Ghetsis as well, so consider us even. The important thing is that we can always grow from fighting each other", he pointed out, extending his hand to do the handshake they had last done in the Cold Storage.

Surprised to have been forgiven already, the young gym leader hesitated momentarily, though he quickly got over himself and returned the gesture. "Yes, you're right. Thank you", he responded, taking his hand. Now he didn't know why he had been worried in the first place, since he couldn't imagine his counterpart being resentful at all.

This time it was Lack-Two who joined the scene as soon as the two separated again, with the signature expression of his schoolboy persona on his face. "Excuse me, you're the dexholder Black, right? Who won the League Tournament two years ago? My name is Lack-Two, I've been entrusted a Pokedex from Bianca myself, and I'm a huge admirer of your battles", he introduced himself.

He was a little pushy, maybe less so than he would have previously been, but his senior didn't mind. "It's very nice to meet you. I'm sure Bianca chose well", he greeted back.

Of course, while there was truth in his words, the Arrester also had a different intention than just to make himself known. "Since we have been able to take care of Ghetsis and the Shadow Triad together, can I ask for your help to bring them outside where Lou Karr from the International Police is waiting to apprehend them?", he requested kindly, and the two Dreamers as well as his teacher quickly agreed and came to assist him.

On their way there, the latter couldn't resist asking, though: "Lack-Two, I'm very impressed by your fight with Kyurem, and I'm glad you were here, but I think I missed how you got to this place, or why you would come in the first place." He remembered Skyla mentioning something on their flight, still he wasn't able to grasp how his former student was involved in all this yet.

The Interpol member never got a chance to find an answer he could give him, however, because his words reminded him of the ice dragon he had moved his attention away from. It was already too late now, as Kyurem, still in the possession of the DNA Splicers, had used the in which they all had been distracted in a false sense of safety to draw near Reshiram, catching it with its tentacles of energy and absorbing it like it had done with Zekrom earlier, the light of the process blinding everyone in the cave. "Not again!", Roxie complained as the new fusion emerged from the bright glow.

"Reshiram, no!", Black worried about his Pokemon as he saw the beast in front of them, instinctively looking towards where N had been and just seeing the Dark Stone which Whi-Two now held.

While he was calling out Musha to support him already, White immediately turned towards him. "Black, what can we do now? Do you have an idea?", she wanted to know rather hastily.

Whi-Two shrieked when she saw the psychic type curl around its Trainer's head. "What is it doing?", she asked rather horrified by the sight.

His friends reacted quickly to explain it so nobody would be afraid. "Please don't mind it, Whi-Two, his Musharna is just helping him concentrate by eating his dreams so he can focus on what's in front of him", her tutor elaborated. At least he didn't have to waste much thought on what she was doing in this location once he had seen the dress she was wearing.

And when Black used his regular method to get his mind blank and see the ideal way to defeat the White Kyurem, he saw countless weirdly connected dots around him. As he was still trying to make sense of this, he was disrupted by White's warning. "Black, duck!", she yelled. He reacted immediately, and a flame shot by the enemy's Fusion Flare just barely missed him. The dragon now began firing off its flames wildly, melting the remaining eyes and setting uncontrolled fires.

What stopped it was two Sacred Sword moves crossing and hitting it hard in the front. Cobalion and Virizion had come in and immediately attacked upon witnessing the monstrosity was causing a blaze that could harm other Pokemon. Everyone was positively surprised by the unexpected help, none of them as much as Keldeo, who was overjoyed and quickly tried to get to its masters. The ice type wasn't finished yet, however, assaulting the young knight with Dragon Breath while it was on its way. This strike was intercepted by a Hydro Pump of Lack-Two's Samurott, and the water type technique was the only one reaching its target. "Don't let it retaliate, keep pressuring it", the agent advised with a commanding tone, taking charge once more.

Now the other 'hero of truth' understood what he had seen when Musha had eaten his dreams. "He's right, we have enough Pokemon here to take it down, we just all have to work together!", he exclaimed for everyone to hear, sending forward his Emboar.

Cheren joined in with an idea, too. "Black, do you remember the combo attacks we won with in the Cold Storage?", he suggested.

"Great idea, I can assist as well", Cedric Juniper rushed towards them with his own Samurott, which used its Water Pledge to combine it with Servine's Grass Pledge and Boar's Fire Pledge. The three moves together formed a powerful amalgam that spread in a way making it impossible for its target to dodge it, dealing a lot of damage.  
Inspired by Lack-Two saving it again and the humans working together to fight, Keldeo was now eager to help as well, firing off its new Secret Sword before Kyurem could react. And this was quickly followed by White's Deerling Darlene using Jump Kick and Bianca's Chandelure assisting by burning the foe with Inferno. The Haxorus trained by Iris hit with a Dragon Tail and Benga's Garchomp shot a Fire Blast at the giant target. Hugh's Flygon charged at the ice type with Dragon Claw and Alder's Bouffalant stormed right at it with Head Charge. Terrakion created more Rocks with Stone Edge to inflict super effective damage as well, Virizion threw its Magical Leaf to be sure not to miss and Cobalion, hopping through one of the flames to get a clear shot, applied its Metal Burst with great effect.

Watching the fusion of the two legendary Pokemon tumble backwards further and further, unable to catch its breath while the group kept assailing it, Whi-Two wanted to do her part as well. "Okay, how did Lack-Two do this?", she asked herself, looking at the Dark Stone in her hands. "He held it up and proclaimed what he was fighting for, so if I do that-" The girl raised her arms over her head and cleared her throat, thinking about what to say. "Everyone here worked so hard to protect people and Pokemon alike. Their efforts mustn't be in vain! I want them to be safe, I want all humans and Pokemon to be safe, Zekrom. And if you open up for me, that is the ideal Lord N will... No. It is the ideal I want to fight for!" As she spoke these words, the item actually started to glow, and floated out of her hands suddenly towards a point where Zekrom, with N on its back, had enough room to emerge from it.

N was still astonished to get out of this rather unique prison so quickly. "I'm free again?" He looked down to see his young supporter below him and smiled at her as Zekrom grumbled in satisfaction. "On my behalf and Zekrom's... Thank you", he addressed the former member of his team. "It says you're a hero of ideals now as well."

It was hard for Whi-Two to hide her pride as he told her that, but she wanted to stay focused and make use of that success now, pointing at Kyurem. "Zekrom, we have to take that thing down, can you help me?", she requested. The electric type roared in agreement, and in the moment the assaults of the other Trainers backed the monster into a corner, N's Pokemon used Bolt Strike to finish it off. The ice dragon was pushed against the side of the grotto by the powerful punch, and the shocks were finally too much for it to withstand. When Reshiram separated from it again, Kyurem didn't stand up anymore, and Drayden threw an Ultra Ball at it, capturing it to make sure it wouldn't cause trouble another time.

Bianca was the first to ask optimistically: "Did we do it? Is it over?" As if to prove her wrong, a crumbling sound echoed through the hall, blending in a little with the rustling of the fire that still disseminated.

"That does not sound good"; Clay muttered unhappily as he watched the growing leftovers of the Fusion Flare. Even Reshiram, which had joined with Black again, did not seem unaffected by the sight of what it's other part had done with its power.

The Interpol superintendent caught what was going on first. "Kyurem's ice has helped in supporting the ceiling, now that it's melting the cave is about to collapse. We need to get out of here quickly!", he summarized, trying to mobilize the others and moving towards Ghetsis and the Shadow Triad again to get them outside with the others. Black, White and Cheren helped him as they had previously intended to, and together, they made their way to the southern exit near Lacunosa Town.

At the same time, this evacuation was rather panicked and unorganized. Most of the remaining grunts of Neo Team Plasma who couldn't be arrested now tried to get out on the eastern side in hopes of finding shelter around Humilau City, while the team of the gym leaders secured the way for the young Trainers. The _Swords of Justice_ made sure that nobody stayed behind in the fire before they fled through the hole in the roof themselves. N, meanwhile, decided to lead his followers towards the western end of the Giant Chasm, from where the track would eventually lead into Victory Road.  
Lack-Two wasn't very satisfied when he saw them part from the group, on the one hand because the police would have had questions for them, on the other hand and even more important to him because Whi-Two followed Zekrom. As soon as he crossed paths with Looker outside, he gave the man he was carrying over to him. "Please take care of Ghetsis and the Shadow Triad so they are brought to a place for safekeeping. Be careful, I'm not sure how long the effect of the Magician's spores lasts", he informed his subordinate, and ran back towards where he had come from.

Looker tried to argue with him on this. "Wait, you can't go back inside, it's too dangerous if the cave is falling! And what should I do with-" But it was already too late to stop him.

Hearing fast steps from behind, the new 'hero of ideals' paused her own running. She turned around as the sounds stopped. He just stood there with crossed arms. His look said more than a thousand words. This was her last chance to decide whom she'd go along with. While the others of her group just went on, N turned back and laid a hand on her shoulder. He had always had trouble to understand other human's hearts, still he could tell it was her emotions holding her back. "We can't stay here, Whi-Two", he whispered, urging her to leave as their dragon waited.

The detective sighed at the sight and left the corridor, ready to return to the others. And his former classmate made her decision. "I'm sorry, my Lord, but I want to stay with him", she called out and ran after him, leaving the members of the old Team Plasma behind as they continued on their way. N still wasn't good with affection, but watching her, for once he understood.

Lack-Two turned around as he noticed her running after him. After shortly feeling like he had lost her a second time, he was hesitant to give into the relief he was suddenly feeling. And he showed her this smile she missed thus much without even knowing she liked it. "Well then, it's nice to meet you", he greeted her like it was the first time. "My name's Kyouhei, and with whom do I have the pleasure?" He held out a hand. She ignored it and hugged him tightly, which he immediately returned with delight. "For a moment feared you'd never do that", he admitted.

"If you want to be a hero of truth, you must never lie to me again", the girl demanded again, before grabbing his arm and pulling him with her so they could make their way towards the southern escape route together.

Alder had hurried onto a tall cliff on Route 23 from where he could look down on the Giant Chasm, supervising the evacuation. "Hey, Marshal, it looks like everyone is out", he eventually shouted into the canyon beneath him. "Are you guys ready?"

The addressed was carefully moving through the rubble on the ground of the cave. "Sure, we're getting started, master", he responded loud enough for the former champion to hear. "Conkeldurr, use Stone Edge." His strongest Pokemon's move made large rocks shoot out of the ground like Terrakion had done it earlier, and these rocks served as new pillars to stop the ceiling from crumbling further.

A yawn was audible behind him as Caitlin pointed at rocks for her Gothitelle to move around with its psychic powers to block the flames from expanding further and clean up the pathways for them. "People and Pokemon are counting on us to protect them, right? We have to make it our best effort to keep the habitat of so many wild Pokemon from being destroyed", she pointed out.

"Oh, that would make a great line for my new story, please let me use that", Shauntal said gleefully, a red book and pen in her hands as she watched her Jellicent put out parts of the fire with Surf.

Grimsley's Sharpedo assisted her in that. "Good, good... Even something like clearing a cave is a serious battle, and we have to use the tools we're given. We are the Elite Four, after all, and we will fulfill our duty to win this contest", its owner ruminated out loud.  
Together, the four of them under Alder's directions were able to stop the collapse of the Giant Chasm. The large battle that had taken place there ended with a victory for the defenders of Unova and the final fall of Team Plasma.


	14. Epilogue - A New Unova

"Come on, you have to tell us what happened", Yuko insisted for what seemed like the millionth time, but Hugh just sat there silently, his hands on his cheeks to hold his head up, but his eyes wouldn't meet any of the students around him. "I promise we will never call you mean again", she tried to offer, but it didn't affect him.

His mind was with his sister, and they had no chance of getting him out of his thoughts. "We'd just like to know whether Whi-Two is okay", Maya questioned with a shy voice.

The addressed saw the memory of how his sister had happily played with her Liepard replay in front of his eyes. How happy they seemed after their reunion, but how hesitant the dark type had been once he had attempted to join in their game. "She's fine, don't worry", he answered shortly to make her stop worrying, but that was as far as his care extended.

Obviously, now that he had spoken, the people pestering him were all the more eager to learn more. "Is it true that Lack-Two was there as well?", Yuki was quick to ask. The mention of his former classmate didn't make him any more enthusiastic, though. On their way back from Lacunosa he had thanked him and offered to repay him with a standard Interpol compensation before dropping him off. The blue-haired Trainer didn't get a chance to compete with his Samurott once more now that his Vibrava had evolved into Flygon, and he had told himself he would get his rematch eventually, but he also was willing to wait for a while before dealing with the boy he had antagonized for so long again.

So he still wanted to, needed to get stronger so he would be able to keep up with his rivals, but without having his little sister as a motivation for his revenge against Team Plasma, it seemed like a rather short-sighted goal. He would have liked to think about what he would do after that, but with people constantly wanting to hear the story of what happened in the Giant Chasm, he couldn't concentrate. It didn't help much when Cheren arrived for the lesson, with Bianca following close behind. "Students, I would like to make an announcement", he started once he reached his desk.  
This caught everyone's attention, even Hugh's. "Now that the threat of Neo Team Plasma has been dealt with, Clay has decided this is a good moment to officially open up the Pokemon World Tournament, where he wants renowned Trainers from all regions to come together and give the audience some thrilling battles. As a gym leader I've been invited to join, and I thought it would benefit your learning if you could watch me and other skilled duelists give you a good show. That's why I organized some tickets allowing you to sit in the audience. Who knows, maybe some of you feel ready to take part in a smaller challenge there as well", he announced, causing everyone in the room to cheer in excitement.

That interested the boy with the Qwilfish-head as well. "A challenge, huh? I'm in." He straightened up a little.

Discussing the formalities, they soon learned they would use the bus to get to Virbank City and have Roxie's father transport them over the sea with his ferry. "Oh, will you tell us what happened on your adventure on the ride there? I'd sit next to you", Yuki was eager to offer Hugh.

Luckily for him, Leo saw that his friend was not feeling well and came to his aid. "Could you please stop it? He doesn't want to talk about it, you should just apologize!", he demanded, and without even noticing, he talked to the girls without blushing as he usually would have.

The trio looked down a little embarrassed when the small but skilled Trainer rebuked them. They had never seen him do something like that before. "We're sorry", Maya was the first to go ahead and show humility. "We are just so curious to hear about it, but we shouldn't have annoyed you with it."

"Oh, I can tell you about it", Bianca engaged their attention. "Hugh is being modest because he doesn't want to brag about how he won against both Ghetsis and the Shadow Triad", she claimed.

Her words flattered the young man, he couldn't hide it, but he also felt it wasn't completely earned. "I had a lot of help in both these battles", he felt the need to add, trying to see everyone's reactions to the words of Professor Juniper's assistant.

The latter wouldn't let him excuse himself easily, though. "You were a great help to all of us, and the Professor and I agree you should be rewarded for that." She fished out a Pokedex from her back. "I want you to carry this and visit a lot of places. You can learn more about Pokemon, and that will make you even tougher", was her pitch to convince him to take it. "Whi-Two and Lack-Two have other things to do as well, and the Pokemon distribution is still in the progress of changing, so the more, the merrier." Everyone looked at the supposed recipient expectantly now.

Finally, Hugh overcame his doubts and accepted the device from her. "Alright, I'll help you out. I'll find and battle every strong Pokemon and Trainer in Unova and get the proof I'm someone my Pokemon can be proud of!", he declared. And instead of mocking him, this time his female classmates cheered him on together with Leo.

* * *

Looker felt a little overexposed as he stood between the bright colors Join Avenue had been decorated in. The promenade that had been opened on Route 4 at the entrance of Nimbasa City to connect the new street being built there with the town was filled with booths of traders selling different things or offering unique services. It took the Interpol member some time before he found a spot where he could wait without feeling like everyone was looking at him. He had never liked places with a lot of hurly-burly, but an appointment was an appointment, and he still would do everything to be there in time. "Even dust, when plied...", Lack-Two's voice ultimately saved him from having to stay there for much longer.

"...Can become a mountain", the older agent ended the phrase to prove his identity. "So what's going on at headquarters right now?" He turned towards where the words had been coming from to face the boy, but saw nobody there.

His superior tapped on his shoulder, revealing he was already behind the man, comfortably leaning against the wall. "They were very satisfied with the capture of Ghetsis, Colress and the Shadow Triad, though we're still dealing with the aftermath of Gorm infiltrating the leadership ranks", he shared about the situation. "A lot of higher-ups are demanding new management now, some have offered to take over, and people are now starting to try and stand out with successful missions." At the same time, he was making eye contact with his partner and scanned their surroundings for anyone who could be listening.

The subordinate tried to draw the correct conclusion from that. "Does that mean we're being assigned to a new mission already?", was what he wanted to know, rather eager to get back to work.

For a moment, the kid thought about how to answer. "Yes, you're getting a new mission. I want to support the efforts of Miss Anabel to work her way up. She is going to the Alola region for an important task, and I recommended you as a suitable assistant." He watched the reaction of the elder carefully to see how he felt about it.

But the issue he had with this was not what his leader had expected. "I'll be happy to live up to your recommendation", he said rather proud about the fact that he had been spoken well about. "But the way you say it makes it sound like you won't be joining yourself?"

It surprised the superintendent that this was what bothered Looker, and he had to smile a little about it. "I'd love to keep working with you, but for now I want to take a break from being undercover for a while", he stated, taking a glance at the crowds around the booths in the passage as if he was searching for someone.

Looker understood this as a sign of him wanting to have some freedom in this region, and accepted his renunciation as such. "As you wish, Sir, then I will make sure we can continue succeeding until you return", he promised with a rather emotional tone.

Lack-Two nodded approvingly. "Maybe I can follow you to Alola at a later point, depending on how long you need to deal with what's going on there", he opened up, before doing the last thing his co-worker would have seen coming: he saluted. "It was an honer working with you, Looker", the boy said with genuine appreciation.

The one this gesture was directed at took a second to process it, before he quickly stiffened up and returned it, moved to tears by the respect he received. "It was my pleasure, superintendent!", he replied happily. "But before we go, I have one more question. Why did you want to meet at this place?", his curiosity got the better of him.

"Simple", his superior answered, having finally spotted whom he was looking for in the throng. "I'm having a date here now", was his last response, before moving to Whi-Two, smiling and waving at Looker whose gaze followed him stunned until he vanished in the masses.

Once she spotted him, the girl returned his signature expression happily. She didn't like such bustling places much more than the lower-ranking agent, but she had already seen a few small shops that interested her, for example the Cafe serving meals for Pokemon, and she would have won any bet that Lack-Two was planning on buying her a gift from the Flower Shop. "Punctual to the minute. I appreciate that", she used his words against him with a look at the clock. "Were you able to get the vacation you requested?"

He nodded as he went ahead and took her hand without hesitation, and she let him lead her through the avenue. "Yeah, it went the way I hoped, Ghetsis and Colress are being taken care of now and I dodged being sent on a new mission", he said with his lighthearted voice.

This made her happy to hear, though it also drew her attention to something she hadn't thought about yet. "So how are Ghetsis and Colress dealing with their defeat?", the former member of Team Plasma inquired.

Her counterpart frowned a little. "Better than expected in both cases. Colress even offered to help the development team of Interpol to have something to do during his imprisonment, it seems they accepted his help for a project regarding so-called Beast Balls, but I don't know anything specific, they'll only involve me after my time of absence." He picked up a bouquet of her favorite flowers from the store they passed and presented it to her, making her giggle as she gladly received the expected gift. Then his smile got a little weaker. "Sadly Ghetsis isn't as repentant as his friend, it seems he has found solace in his belief that eventually people will require change under a strong leader again and that he can return when the time comes. He can wait a long time for that", Lack-Two ended with a scoff.

His partner nodded with determination. "Maybe humans could forget his crimes one day, but Pokemon never will. He will never hurt anyone again, we're going to make sure humans and Pokemon can live together in peace and ignore his misguided formula", she declared.

At this ideal, he could lighten up again. "Yes, that's true", he agreed as they reached a small cafe where Samurott and Foongy could have a snack while they kept talking. "And how is your plan to help the Pokemon hurt or stolen by Team Plasma going so far?", the Trainer of the water type wanted to hear.

Whi-Two was eager to share her progress. "It's going great, Miss White agreed to use her business connections to get me in contact with some Pokemon Rangers who are currently in the Seaside Cave, they know some places where Pokemon separated from their Trainers have found shelter, and Rood is also helping me by getting into contact with the Trainers and sharing the locations where other members went on missions, so I'm sure I can start soon." Then she blushed a little. "Sadly Miss White is way better at negotiating than I am, so I had to make a few promises", she admitted hesitantly.

"And what would that be?" The boy looked at her expectantly, though his voice was soothing to make her more assured to share what she had pledged.

She shunned his gaze a little after having enjoyed it until seconds ago. "I had to agree to star in her movies as Foongus Girl a few more times, it's supposed to become a trilogy, and she'd also like to have me in a few other roles", was her slow response.

The memory of their trip to the Pokestar Studios made him laugh a little. "And what else?", he asked. The way he spoke these words made it very clear the young detective had already seen through her.

So there was no point in trying to keep it from him either way. "Also I might have said you'd play Samurott Kid for her again as well", the girl admitted timidly, finally looking at him again to see his reaction.

To her surprise, he was rather delighted. "That's great, I'll be happy to help you in that way", he gave his consent. "I'm looking forward to saving you again." With these words, he winked at her while they exited the passage arriving in Nimbasa City.

"Hey, I'm a 'hero of ideals', too, I think it's my turn to save you!", Whi-Two disputed, holding his hand a little tighter, her Foongy proudly making a pose on her head.  


Lack-Two smiled widely at her words. "I'd like that as well", he sighed joyfully. "But you owe me a ride on the Ferris Wheel first!" And before she could even argue, he pulled her towards the amusement park.

* * *

A little further in the northeast of the region, Keldeo and its three masters looked down from a cliff on the _Forces of Nature_ meeting at the Abundant Shrine that had been built for them above the waterfalls of Route 14. They had been alarmed by large rainfall and thunderstorms moving quickly towards this place. But when they saw the three reunite, they were peaceful, humbled by what had happened maybe. "So the humans who caught them released them back into the wild", Terrakion noted, being the only one of them who had seen Elesa and Sklya catch them. Its tone carried respect for this choice to let the legendary Pokemon go.

Keldeo was just as pleased with this development. "See, Cobalion, it's worth fighting with them after all, they can do good, too", it pointed out rather provokingly.

The steel type chose it wasn't worth arguing against that anymore though. "I chose to aid them in the end, did I not?", was the yielding yet prideful response.

"And not a second too late", Virizion gave its opinion. "The frozen dragon deserves to rest now, just as these three. We must never let fear or mistrust keep us from fighting for those who need help." It smiled at Cobalion when it didn't gainsay it.

It gladdened the water type just as much. "The humans helped me to apply my Secret Sword and bring the man I wanted to stop to justice. Getting involved with them was a good choice for me", it summed up.

Having been talked into entering the battle with the younger knight, the rock type had to agree when it saw Landorus reprimand the other two flying types beneath them. "I only found a way to victory when I joined forces with them instead of ignoring them. There is no reason to deny their assistance when we want the same thing, and we'll never refuse those who seek our help."

"However", Cobalion now spoke up. "If humans threaten us, we must be ready to break off any relations with them again", was what it wanted to lay emphasis on.

This wasn't something Keldeo liked to hear. "Come on, master, shouldn't we be positive now that we have them on our side?", it continued to argue, trying to change the other's mind.

Seeing this was important to its pupil, the grass type took its side. "Keldeo is right, you should not have such a negative outlook, if your junior can see a bright future then you should be willing to fight for it instead of concentrating on the bad side of things." Terrakion stood behind them as well.

Still, the last member of the _Swords of Justice_ stayed resolute. "On the contrary, I think that our student is ready to fight for this future even without my agreement. Keldeo has proven to be capable of protecting others and bringing our enemies to justice twice now, so it is time to stop depending on us in terms of what to believe in", was its own deduction from the events that had occurred.

To the youngest of the group, that sounded like the steel type had a different motive. "Wait, does that mean you are only still critical of them to teach me not to listen to you?"

As the rock type started to laugh out loud, Cobalion lowered its head a little embarrassed. "That's not how I would have phrased it", was its last attempt to save a battle that was already lost.

Wanting to spare it from further humiliation, Virizion drove their attention to something else. "So what do you think we should do about these three?", it questioned doubtfully, turning towards the slope next to them.

"They have proven to be at least equal in strength to us when fighting together", Terrakion pointed out. "But they don't seem like they would do any harm right now." It looked at Tornadus and Thundurus arguing with each other who was at fault to avoid punishment while Landorus just shook its head.

The steel type agreed with the latter assessment. "They're just like us, they only ever harmed someone when controlled by humans with evil intentions. I don't think we need to consider them a threat." With that, it turned to leave the shrine again.

This time, Keldeo was of the same opinion. "I think it's good to see that they're well. It seems like we could save them, too", it felt, and smiled down. When Landorus noticed the observers in the corner of its eye, it waved kindly at the young warrior that had defeated it, and that was all it needed to express its gratitude before the four fighting types left.

* * *

After the collapse of the old Victory Road due to the castle of Team Plasma rising from beneath it, a new one had been built a little in the east, now connecting the Pokemon League and Route 23 so that challengers would still be able to reach the stadium on top of the mountain. N, together with Zoroark and Zekrom, looked at the passage that had been built to automatically scan the participants' badges before they could enter with mixed feelings. "You came...", he spoke up when we noticed Alder walking up to him, jumping down from a cliff to reach him.

The old man smiled at him once he was at eye level with the green-haired Trainer. "Of course I did. I love traveling, and meeting Pokemon and people I wouldn't see otherwise is truly one of the greatest things about it, don't you agree?", he sought confirmation, exchanging looks between his counterpart and the Pokemon.

N smiled a little. "I can't deny that. My journey has been wonderful. And there are still many Pokemon and humans in the world I should talk to", he recognized with a nod at Zekrom.

This satisfied the former champion. "Very good, when you find something you want to do, you should take it on without a moment of doubt! Don't worry, you have these great Pokemon by your side. If you're together, you can do things you can't do alone, and your Pokemon can go places they couldn't go on their own. That's what makes the relationship of humans and Pokemon so wonderful", he shared his view.

The legendary dragon roared with what looked like a happy expression, and its partner couldn't help but agree. "Only by moving forward together, we can learn and bring about positive change. I am thankful to everyone who helped preventing my father from harming this symbiosis." A glance towards the Giant Chasm made him wonder how Kyurem was feeling right now.

"I know you were not pursuing these ideals because of Ghetsis' manipulation, but because your heart was really inspired, that's not a bad thing. That is why you were able to meet the legendary Pokemon, and why you were able to defeat me", Alder gave into consideration. "But it is good that you understand now, even if we don't agree with each other, that's not a reason to reject each other. And I am sure that Ghetsis will figure it out as well eventually. If not, he has to accept change will be lead by the younger generation, not him." His words seemed to have the effect he wished for, making N more positive.

A loud voice caught the attention of them both. "Gramps, you can't keep taking shortcuts and jumping down cliffs like that, you'll hurt yourself!", Iris shouted, out of breath from running after the addressed in her large dress.

Her adoptive grandpa chuckled at her words. "You don't need to worry yet, as long as I can spar with Bouffalant this is no problem at all", he reassured.

His response made the new champion sigh in a mixture of relief and amusement. "Fine, if you say so." Then she turned to the younger one of the two. "I'm sorry it took a while, N, but I can now tell you Drayden, Benga and I managed to separate the DNA Splicers from Kyurem and patch it up a little so we can return it into the wild. It took quite a beating, but we're the experts for dragons after all, it should be healthy again in no time!" While ending her report, she looked at Zekrom with notable awe. The temptation to keep Kyurem and be the wielder of a legendary dragon herself had been huge, and she knew it wasn't entirely different for Drayden, but in the end both of them knew the ice type had suffered enough by the hands of humans and deserved to rest freely now.

"I'm glad to hear that", the 'hero of ideals' reacted to the news of Kyurem's recovery. "I'm sure it will return once it has its powers back. Did you come all this way to inform me about that?" He could sense there was another intention on her mind.

Iris grinned widely at him. "Of course not, I also came to challenge you to a Pokemon battle! I can only call myself the champion of Unova if I defeat the one who defeated Grandpa as well", she declared, putting her hand on the capsules she kept her Haxorus and Druddigon in.

With a look at his two Pokemon, N pondered for a moment, but then he knew the right answer. "Show me the depth of your determination. Fighting will help us understand each other, that is the formula for changing the world." Zoroark and Zekrom were eager to compete with the powerful girl's Pokemon. "I look forward to seeing how full of love the world you will create is."

* * *

The sounds of the cheering masses in the stadium were loud enough so that nobody could hear Black's pledge, which meant a lot in his case. "I'm gonna become the champion of the Pokemon League! Because I'll definitely, certainly and absolutely beat them all! Everyone at this Pokemon World Tournament, and then the Elite Four and Iris as well! Just you wait, I'll win!", the young man shouted through the corridor leading to the battlefield. He had finally found the perfect place to swear on his dreams, and he intended to use it as much as he could.

That was until he got company, at least. "So your goal hasn't changed, has it?", White asked him with a soft smile on her face as she walked towards him.

Her co-worker was surprised to see her here. "Ah, Prez, you came down here for me?", he wondered, unsure whether normal visitors were even allowed here. But it wasn't that he would have minded her being here, nor that he doubted she would find a way in if she wanted to.

"Of course", she was quick to confirm. "I want to encourage you from the first row. Well, even closer than that." They both giggled a little as he came towards her so they could meet in the middle.

Once they stood close to each other, he answered her question. "Yeah, I've been having this dream ever since my childhood, I'm not going to stop until I can make it true. I'm participating in this tournament to train against strong opponents so I will be ready to beat Iris again. Also I still have to make that advertisement for the BW Agency when I do!", the winner of the last League Tournament insisted.

His business partner quickly shock her head, though she couldn't hide how it flattered her. "I told you so many times that you already paid off your debt, you don't need to do that anymore", she clarified once more.

"But I still want to do it", he stuck with his plan. "Please let me stay your employee, I want to keep working for you, it's been a lot of fun and you're a great boss!" His voice was very determined, almost pleading.

Seeing how serious he was about this, the young head of the now large company blushed. "How could I say no to that?", she quickly agreed, trying not to get too flustered. It was hard to tell whether she succeeded at that.

Black was visibly happy that she allowed him to continue assisting her, he was eager to get back into it. "Great, thank you! So what are your current plans for the BW Agency, Prez?", he wanted to know, leaning back a little. The crowd in the arena got louder, apparently the battle going on was in its final moments right now, which forced them to speak up a lot to understand each other.

Talking so loudly was more unnatural for White than it was for him, but she did it with way more ease than she would have a few years ago. "Well, the musicals in Nimbasa are going great, and the movies in Virbank City seem to become a huge success as well, especially with the prospect of Lack-Two and Whi-Two starring in them again, so with Unova being covered, I thought I could see how to establish the concept in other regions as well. I want to share my dream with as many people around the world as I can, that way I will do my part in giving Trainers and Pokemon more things to bond over", was her explanation.

Her counterpart was impressed by the progress she had already made and the goals she set for herself. "That's great! I'm sure you'll be able to make some useful contacts for that dream here at the PWT. We could-" However, they were interrupted by an announcement.

The voice of the man that had already been doing the commentary at the League Tournament resounded from the loudspeakers: "After an impressive victory of Leo's Zweilous against Roxie's Scolipede in the second round of the Driftveil Tournament, we continue with the next battle in the Unova Leaders Tournament. Give it up for our contestants, Cheren and Black!" The audience rejoiced and clapped as they expected the two Trainers to appear in the ring.

It made both the dreamers smile how they applauded for him. "Alright, I have to get going, let's discuss this after my victory", he said with his positive attitude, giving her a thumbs up with a confident grin.

"Wait, one more thing!", White stopped him, only to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I know Bianca will cheer on Cheren, I just wanted to balance it out." She winked at him and prepared to watch him fight again. "Consider it your first wage."

Black's face turned bright red when she did this, and he needed a second to comprehend this, though he was back in his element again fast. "Thanks, Prez, I'll make you proud!", he exclaimed, before running up the few stairs to face his rival once more, their Pokemon eager to test who was the strongest Trainer in Unova in another battle.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the end of my story, I hope you enjoyed reading it, thank you for making it so far. It turned out longer than I originally expected, but I'm satisfied with the result, and as long as you like it, every word is well-used. I'm still a great fan of the characters and the setup and had fun with this arc of the manga, so my rewrite can serve as a kind of love letter to the original, and hopefully I was able to use its potential well and translate it into the written format to your liking.
> 
> I'm going to continue uploading new stories after a short break for my exams at university, I'd like to continue providing CorruptedShipping content and another My Hero Academia oneshot as well, so I'd be honored if you stick around and look into them.  
> Now more than ever, I'm grateful for any reviews, whether they concern the ending or the story as a whole, my writing style or the story, criticism or ideas. I am very happy about all the reviews and Kudos I already received, it's a great motivation to keep going!
> 
> That's it from me, you earn my gratitude for looking through my writing, I wish to make people's day better with it, and I wish everyone seeing this a great day, see you at the next story!


End file.
